The ruling party made the statement in a new video advertisement ahead of the referendum, published via social media on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The ad features Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczyński answering a phone call from the German government.
A German official says that Germany’s Chancellor is on the line and that “the German government would like Poland’s retirement age to be set at the same level as under the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk,” which ruled between 2007 and 2015.
In the ad, Kaczyński replies: “With apologies to Mr Chancellor, the decision in this matter will be taken by the Polish people in the referendum.”
Senior Law and Justice officials, including Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek, commented that Tusk had been persuaded to raise Poland’s retirement age by Germany’s then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on social media: “Nothing about us without us. Only Polish people can decide on matters that concern them.”
Last month, Poland's lawmakers approved a government plan to combine the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15, with a nationwide referendum on issues including the retirement age and illegal migration.
Four referendum questions
The government of conservative Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has proposed putting four referendum questions to voters:
1) “Do you support the sale of state assets to foreign buyers, causing the Polish people to lose control over strategic sectors of the economy?”
2) “Are you in favour of raising the retirement age, including the reintroduction of a higher retirement age of 67 years for men and women?”
3) “Are you in favour of dismantling the wall on Poland’s border with Belarus?”
4) “Are you in favour of admitting thousands of illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa under the mandatory relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?”
(pm)
Source: PAP, Polsat News
