The centre-right Poland 2050 grouping and the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL) announced the deal on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Poland 2050 leader Szymon Hołownia and PSL chief Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told a news conference in Warsaw that their groups would contest the elections together as "The Third Way - Poland 2050 and PSL" electoral alliance.
Hołownia said: “People want hope ... and the kind of politics that will restore power to the citizens of Poland.”
He added: “That’s the kind of politics that we’ll be forging in our Third Way coalition.”
'The Third Way'
Hołownia told reporters: “The Third Way is an authentic way towards something different than how things were before 2015. There is no going back to how things were before 2015.”
He added: “Times have changed and the challenges are totally different.”
Meanwhile, the PSL's Kosiniak-Kamysz said: ”The Third Way offers a greater good, not the lesser evil.”
He added that The Third Way electoral alliance “offers an alternative to those who are running Poland today and leading the country astray … sometimes right into the abyss.”
Kosiniak-Kamysz hailed the PSL’s team-up with Poland 2050, telling reporters that “Poland’s oldest and youngest parties are joining forces.”
Hołownia argued that Polish opposition groups must avoid forming a single electoral alliance to stand a chance of defeating the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party at the ballot box.
"We’ll only remove PiS from power if people are allowed to make a choice” between various opposition groupings, he said.
Poland 2050, PSL team up
In late April, Poland 2050 and the PSL said they were joining forces ahead of parliamentary elections in a move aiming to bolster their appeal to voters.
The announcement came after the two groups in March launched a joint tour of the country ahead of the autumn’s elections, promoting “a shared list of 21 policy issues” they pledged to resolve after taking power.
The "21 policy issues" include "reducing the influence of party officials over the state," restoring the rule of law, increasing pay for teachers, and relaxing abortion rules, followed by a referendum on abortion rights, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Poland’s governing conservatives in March launched an effort to win a third consecutive term in power, starting a nationwide tour to rally voters ahead of the elections and promising a raft of new policies “to make Poland stronger and secure.”
The ruling conservatives in 2019 won a convincing victory over opposition parties at the ballot box, securing a second term in power.
They maintained a majority in the 460-seat lower house, but narrowly lost control of the 100-seat upper house, the Senate.
The next general election is scheduled for this autumn. The exact date will be set by President Andrzej Duda, with October 15 the earliest constitutionally possible date, according to news outlets.
As it stands, the Polish opposition appears to be set to enter the parliamentary election race divided into three separate blocs.
In February, Poland’s four main opposition parties, including Poland 2050 and the PSL, agreed to join forces in the race for the Senate, the upper house.
The upper house is less powerful than the lower chamber, but it can delay or amend legislation. The Sejm, the lower house, needs to muster an absolute majority to override Senate amendments.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, interia.pl