On Saturday, Lewica presented the leaders of her letter in the Euro-Elections. These are representatives and representatives of the various generations and communities of the Left. On the 1 hand, there were Prime Ministers Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz – in the territory of Zachodniopomorskie and Lubuskie – and Marek Belka (Łódź district), on the another hand, beginning the list in the Silesian Voivodeship MP Maciej Koniezny z Together. There is besides a Deputy Minister of Culture from the Spring Environment Joanna Scheering-Wielgus (Wielkopolskie), Head of Parliamentary Left Club Anna Maria Żukowska (Mazowieckie without Warsaw with a bagel) and Deputy Minister Krzysztof Śmiszek, starting from the territory covering Lower Silesian and Opole Voivodeships. Robert Biedron is to pull the list in the most media visible Warsaw district.
Euro, Green Deal and flats from the Union
Similarly, there were various requests made on Saturday by candidates and their accents. Marek Belka concluded his message by saying that if Poland were in the euro area, present mortgage payments would be smaller – which immediately sparked a negative reaction of part of the left-wing commentariat on the X portal. 1 organization activist Together quoting Belka recalled that the adoption of the euro as shortly as possible is not part of the left-wing agenda.
Włocławski Alderman Lewica Piotr Kowal – the leader of the list in Kujawsko-Pomorskie – reminded of the successful program of building municipal housing for rent in his town and announced the creation of a European housing fund, allowing local governments to build on a massive scale of housing for rent. The storyteller argued that thanks to the Union we can end free internships, which make it much harder for young people without adequate household capital to have a career in any industries.
Necessary and Żukowska spoke about the Green Łada and the request to include social factors in the essential climate transformation. The MP Together called for that alternatively than imposing restrictions on people and investing in solutions that encourage them to behave more environmentally friendly – e.g. building a European railway offering attractive global connections.
What is the connection between all these demands? I would say that the effort to find a fresh pro-European formula, more adapted to the realities of 20 years after our accession to the community than to sigh "ah if we were already in the euro area", capable of linking the hopes and aspirations of left-wing voters to Europe. The Left wants to do this by pointing to the Union as an institution that can aid deliver solutions that its voters support: social housing for rent, rail investment, fair green transformation.
Another hard election
However, erstwhile the convention was broadcast, there was no large enthusiasm or peculiar energy. possibly due to the fact that the Left realises that After the local elections it will be another very hard election for her. If the Left had not crossed the threshold, this would have meant the beginning of the flag.
So far, the polls give the Left more support than it achieved in the elections to the Seymists, according to the electoral simulations it would translate into 5 seats. However, the left is more pessimistic: 3 mandates with the support of a akin parliamentary election.
Hence the disputes about the 1 in the Silesian Voivodeship – due to the fact that it would be 1 of 3 certain, taking districts. The authorities of the fresh Left promised it to the candidate Together, which sparked rebellion in local NL structures, who advocated for the voivodship representing the current EP word Luke Kohut. Together, it was not so much about Silesia as about a mandate, and the management clearly felt that Kohut's mandate was worth maintaining a appropriate relation with the coalition. Eventually, the 1 was given to Maciej Koniecny, and Kohut will take off from a good place from the letter KO in the same district.
When 3 Euromandats won the Spring of Biedronia in 2019, it was not only considered a failure, but besides a applicable end to this political project. How can Left accomplish a better consequence this year? Certainly, possibly popular demands – European railways, European housing fund, etc. – must be arranged in any inspiring communicative about Poland's place in the Union in the 3rd decade of our membership. That's a communicative I haven't heard on Saturday, and the time to introduce to voters will be little and less.
Secondly, the letter leaders will gotta truly effort to make decent results. Meanwhile, Belka and Cimoszewicz – not denying them the competences that are undoubtedly useful in the EP – may have a problem making contact with the demobilized local electorate.
The leaders of respective letters are simply poorly recognisable, at least at national level. In the case of a starter in the most media territory of Biedronia may return the subject of a broken promise to surrender the mandate after erstwhile elections. The times erstwhile Biedron was a natural electoral locomotive on the left-wing progressive side are most likely over, as shown in the presidential election.
Backlash dynamics
The Convention of the Left Polarally contrasted with the European Convention of the Law and Justice. This focused almost exclusively on raising fears about Green Deal, the migration pact and the revision of the EU treaties. By correspondence with this position, Vladimir Cimoszewicz spoke: erstwhile the right says that we joined a different Union than the present one, I reply: and very well. due to the fact that in 20 years the planet has changed radically, and who does not adapt to change loses.
However, all change raises natural fears, and the right clearly intends to make the most of it in this year's European campaign. If the PiS keeps the speech from Saturday's event, we are facing the most anti-European campaign, where the anti-EU backlash will sound in the mainstream of politics – due to the fact that the largest opposition organization by definition is simply a part of it – as powerfully as always in Polish politics.
The consequence to this backlash will find the dynamics of the campaign. It will depend much on whether the anti-EU offensive will mobilise the pro-European electorate or, on the contrary, discourage him from participating in elections or shift him to a more skeptical position towards Europe.
We don't know how the PiS will respond to the 3rd Road. The KO will most likely present the communicative which Radosław Sikorski presented in his exposé on Thursday. So the "creative assertiveness" policy, which, on the 1 hand, is open to Europe's reforms, does not approach it out of fear, wants to mainstream it, but besides takes on and tries to disarm any of the themes raised by populists. Therefore, Sikorski spoke, for example, about the request to defend the interests of Polish agricultural producers in the context of possible accession Ukraine to the Union or the request to defend borders against uncontrolled migration.
How will the communicative of the “new Euro-enthusiasm” of the Left be found in this run environment, trying to convince Poles that the best things the Union can give them even before them and that we must engage in change and deeper integration of Europe, while fighting to guarantee that the costs of change are not borne by the poorest and weakest? Won't it go distant with the mood? Will it prove sufficiently distinct from the "creative assertiveness" of the KO? We'll see about that in June.
