Polish top presidential candidates hold separate debates
Two rival debates were organised on Friday by the two leading presidential candidates, Rafal Trzaskowski from the Civic Coalition (KO), the biggest party of the ruling coalition, and Karol Nawrocki backed by Law and Justice (PiS), the main opposition grouping.
A debate for the candidates in the upcoming presidential election broadcast by Polish public television TVP, and private broadcasters TVN and Polsat more favourable to the centrist KO, had been scheduled to take place in the south-central town of Konskie. Nawrocki was invited to take part, but responded that he would participate, if the event could be co-organised by channels more supportive of the socially-conservative PiS, TV Republika, wPolsce24 and Trwam. The request was denied and in the end TV Republika organised its own debate on the town square in the same town of Konskie and invited Trzaskowski. But the latter did not join his rivals on stage and announced he would like to debate with Nawrocki in a broader format, broadcast by three national TV stations.
Prior to the debates, some candidates expressed frustration at Trzaskowski for informing them of the event too late. Slawomir Mentzen, the candidate of the far-right Confederation party wrote on X that "Trzaskowski invited the candidates to a debate scheduled by TVP for 8 pm at 6:20 pm." A similar message was shared by Adrian Zandberg, candidate from the social-democratic Together party, on his TikTok account.
The debate organised by TV Republika got scheduled to take place before Trzaskowski's event and started at 7pm. The participating presidential candidates included Nawrocki, Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Third Way, Marek Jakubiak of Free Republicans, Krzysztof Stanowski (independent) and Joanna Senyszyn (also independent) who joined the debate as other candidates were responding to the first question about the migration pact.
During the debate, Nawrocki declared that he was against the migration pact. "I am also opposed to the construction of integration centres for illegal migrants and the provision of financial support to illegal migrants. The government’s abdication terrifies me," he said.
Holownia said in turn that he was "against the implementation of the provisions of the migration pact and the allocation of refugee quotas that would be relocated to Poland." He added, "For a simple reason, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we accepted two million refugees from Ukraine, and every community has its own capacity when it comes to receiving people arriving from other parts of the world."
Senyszyn, on the other hand, argued that the migration pact is necessary. "Because only a migration pact will ensure order. Without it, migrants will still come, but there will be no order. Other countries will send their migrants to us, and there will be no order," she said. Her remarks were interrupted by whistles and booing from the gathered audience.
Stanowski and Jakubiak also voiced opposition to the migration pact.
Other topics debated included the economy, energy, justice, climate policy and security.
Nawrocki advocated for zero VAT on food, Holownia proposed investments and reversing the so-called Polish Deal reforms by the previous PiS government, Senyszyn urged support for the smallest companies, Stanowski came up with an idea of establishing a bank as a remedy for high prices, Jakubiak promoted the return to Polish trade.
After the end of the first debate, its participants moved to the other one, organised by Trzaskowski which started with a half-hour delay at a sports hall in Konskie. Nawrocki, who turned up for a showdown with his contender said that an attempt was made to prevent members of his campaign team from entering the debating hall. A scuffle broke out at the entrance, which was also broadcast live on television.
The local sports hall also saw the arrival of two candidates who did not take part in the first debate on the market square, Magdalena Biejat of the New Left and the leader of the Prosperity and Peace Movement Maciej Maciak.
The topics included security, foreign policy and economy. The candidates argued about about migration policy with Trzaskowski accusing the previous government of a "leaky policy" towards refugees. Biejat defended migrants by saying they are taking on jobs for which entrepreneurs could not find employees until recently.
Friday's two debates in Konskie were the first in this campaign. The hosts of the second debate said that it was organised by Trzaskowski's election committee, and that public television will hold a joint debate of all candidates on May 14.
The next debate organised by TV Republika is scheduled for Monday, April 14.
Poland's presidential ballot is scheduled for May 18, with a potential runoff on June 1 if no candidate secures an outright majority in the first round. Poles will elect their next president for a five-year term. (PAP)
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