The joint statement was signed in parliament on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The signatories included the centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, the centre-right Poland 2050 grouping, the New Left (NL) alliance, and the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL), in addition to the Yes! For Poland (TDP) local-government movement.
‘Most important' elections 'since 1989’
Speaking on behalf of the TDP movement, Senator Zygmunt Frankiewicz, a former mayor of the southern city of Gliwice, told reporters: “This year’s elections will be the most important since 1989.”
The Civic Platform’s Marcin Kierwiński said: “This pact is an obligation undertaken by all opposition parties and the local-government circles to field one candidate for each Senate seat.”
Kierwiński added: “We are aware of the importance of these elections. We know how much depends on us working closely and contesting these elections together.“
The TDP’s Frankiewicz said that "a detailed Senate Pact," listing candidates for each of the 100 Senate seats, would be agreed upon by the leadership of the four opposition parties and his local-government movement at a later date.
"We are capable of winning 65 seats,” he told reporters.
'2023 Senate Pact'
Tuesday’s declaration states that “the final approval of the lists of candidates under the 2023 Senate Pact and of the rules for standing in the elections will be made in compliance with the charters of the Parties that have signed this Agreement, according to a timetable agreed upon by the Organisational Team.”
The document adds: “The Parties to this Agreement commit to not fielding or supporting other candidates than those agreed upon under this Agreement and, in case other candidates are fielded outside the 2023 Senate Pact, to proceed according to the Charters of the Parties that have signed this Agreement.”
A similar agreement was signed by Polish opposition groupings before the 2019 parliamentary elections. Thanks to that agreement, the opposition won a slight majority in the Senate, while the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party maintained control of the lower chamber of parliament, the PAP news agency reported.
The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for the autumn of 2023. The exact date will be set by President Andrzej Duda, with October 15 the earliest constitutionally possible date, according to news outlets.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, dziennik.pl