PSL leader proposes two opposition blocs for national elections
Polish People's Party (PSL) leader Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said at his party's Main Council on Saturday that two opposition blocs should be formed for autumn's parliamentary elections.
He said he "could not imagine" running on the same list as left-wing parties that are part of the Civic Platform - Civic Coalition (PO KO).
Instead he proposed a "moderate centrist" bloc called the Polish Coalition, to which he invited all interested political groups to join, including Civic Platform (PO) and a separate left-wing bloc. He argued that a single bloc would be insufficient to defeat the ruling right-wing camp.
The PSL leader pointed out that his party is "rooted in culture, tradition, democratic, Christian values, values of social solidarity and the principle of subsidiarity." He said for the last month the party had been conducting consultations with people who believed in those values, the party's supporters and members, in order to choose the best path for the PSL in autumn's parliamentary elections.
The result was the proposal to create the Polish Coalition, for which tradition would be important, while also being open to modern ideas. "Because just as the united Europe does not stand in opposition to patriotism, so tradition does not stand in opposition to modernity, but one just cannot allow oneself to be seduced by radicalism, either on the left or the right side," he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz went on to argue that the response to the radical right should not be a war of world-views, or the radical left, but the moderate centre his party intends to build.
"We respect the views of the Together, Spring and Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) parties (members of PO KO - PAP), their leaders, their members," he said. "(...) but I can't imagine running together on the same electoral list as the left in the Polish parliamentary elections."
"We invite everybody to build the Polish Coalition, to build the moderate centre," he said. "(...) after years of cooperation (...) the natural partner seems to be the Civic Platform. (...) They must answer the question - do they want to build a rational centre with the PSL or build a coalition with left-wing groupings, because combining the two, I think, is impossible." (PAP)
ej/mr
