Poland slips towards populism. Democrats elsewhere should monitor our mistakes Karolina Wigura and Jarosław Kuisz
We were traveling through Poland by train the day after the country’s exciting parliament elections in the fall of 2023. When the results of the results came, the passengers fell in our compartment in the arms of each other, and they rejoiced as if it were a great weight that was raised from their shoulders. It is difficult to believe after eight years, the national population of the Law and Justice Party was expelled from the authority to a record demand for 75 % of the voters. We felt the possibilities of democracy to change things for the better as a physical feeling.
Less than two years have passed, but this enthusiasm has disappeared without impact. The candidate -backed by law and justice Carole Noruki won the presidential elections in June by 50.89 % of the votes, and insurance Donald Trump’s admiration In this process. Days before Noruki performed on Wednesday [6 August] A new survey suggested that Half of the voters Prime Minister Donald Tusk would like. The ruling coalition is volatile. The liberal democratic government in TUSK may turn more than just intermezzo, a temporary stop between right -wing popular governments.
After more than a decade of living, in a global sense, with the new wave of populism, we can see a pattern of lost opportunities that Poland is just one example. In countries governed by new populists, voters often feel disappointed and angry. In recent years, the liberal candidates, which were carried by a wave of opposition, overthrew the populists: before Tusk managed it in Poland, there was an atmosphere of Biden in the United States, and Laiz Inosio Lula Da Silva in Brazil and Zozana Apotova in Slovakia. The victories of these politicians appeared briefly, such as the beacons of hope in the unanimity of liberal democracy after the Cold War.
But rebuilding after the evacuation of populists can resemble the daily struggle in political mud. The victorious electoral campaign is not the same as the final victory. The war against populists is a permanent, global situation, which is enlarged by digital media.
The post -popular base is more difficult because popular governments leave a legal minefield behind it. In Poland, it was intended by legal decisions and countless verbs to spend liberal democratic institutions. Their disassociation constitutionally and the restoration of the rule of law takes time and energy. As it requires If we look back to the past instead of focusing on the future as the new government addresses its ancestors’ mistakes. In Poland and Brazil, this strangled any ambitions to provide an exciting road map for the coming years. Inevitably, it follows any preliminary euphoria at the speed of general frustration and the rise of another right -to -law.
Since the anti -communist solidarity movement in the 1980s, Poland has been a decisive laboratory in the battle of democracy. After returning to power in 2023, Tusk faced a dilemma: Should he completely distance his predecessor’s agenda or flirt with their legacy? Tusk choose the second option. Keep the direct financial support program for families with children. He continued with the construction of a huge transport center, a pioneering project for the previous government that had previously had Be a wasting. It is particularly stunning that he failed to liberate the laws of abortion in Poland, which the populists have stressed. Ensuring that the nationalist discourse on migration and defending the national border led to the re -imposition of checks on its borders with the neighbors of the European Union Germany and Lithuania, although all three countries are in the Schengen region.
Leaving the national populists put the political tone for him is the leadership of Tusk’s failure. The defeat of his presidential candidate, Rafa Tarskuski, followed the collapse of support in the polls. The lack of an inspiring vision, or even a feeling of what Tusk represents, is painful.
If the parliamentary elections are conducted today, right -wing populists in Poland will be restricted to power, perhaps with a more radical national program. Abroad, Tusk may be admired as a strong defender of democracy. At home, it became one of the most popular politicians in the country.
We call it Gorbachev: internationally loved, but move locally. TUSK categories can be blamed for a full range of non -correspondence, bad messages and bad presidential campaign. It is also affected by the global miles for the rejection of the founding politicians. For many Polish voters, especially the younger, Tusk, who was active in Polish policy for more than 25 years, and the Prime Minister from 2007 to 2014, seemed part of the old tiring elite that time to move.
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Protection of democracy requires something that liberal democrats lack until now: a creative visualization of what the future should seem. Here, Tusk and Lula, just as čaPutová and Biden did in front of them. The message does not exist, but the method is also difficult. To date, the emotional population wins the battlefield on new and social social media.
It is not the only example, but the Polish status clearly shows the foolishness of the election fighting against the defense. It is very little and very narrow. Liberal aspirations should extend beyond preventing populists from reaching power or removing it.
The elections must be understood as an opportunity to rebuild democracy, and do so with the new media environment. Without the approach to thinking forward, the liberal intermezzo will remain only: a short time separation between the verbs in a longer popular play. Democrats should learn this lesson – meaning competition with populism not only confronting the past, but also providing a convincing vision for the future.