OPINION’EYE #31 – Parliamentary elections in Poland

Introduction

OBSERVATORY OF ELECTIONS – a unique research project carried out by OpinionWay Polska for MISO [1] Poland’s parliamentary elections took place in October, generating exceptional interest. As OpinionWay Poland, we conducted a 3-month qualitative study in the form of an online community, allowing us to capture the current dynamics of the election campaign and subsequent analysis and in-depth interpretations, regarding voting behaviour and the role of the campaign media.

Long before the parliamentary elections, even before the start of the official election campaign, one could observe a very large mobilization of both politicians, citizens and the media – especially those critical of Law and Justice (PiS – Prawo i Sprawiedliwość). This is the party that has ruled Poland for the
last 8 years. During this time, it has raised numerous controversies in the eyes of Polish and European public opinion regarding respect for the rule of law (while maintaining strong public support).
So much so that some commentators expressed concerns about whether the elections would be fair and even whether PiS would – if it lost – peacefully hand over power. The latter concerns fortunately turned out to be fears that were overblown. For the third time in a row, PiS achieved the highest electoral result, but at the same time too low to achieve a parliamentary majority and form a government. A coalition of previous opposition parties – centrist-liberal and left-wing – took power in Poland.

Undoubtedly, the election result was influenced by the record turnout (74.38%). Even the turnout of the landmark first free elections in 1989 was not even close, at 62.7%. In subsequent years, the turnout was usually considerably lower, often not even exceeding 50%.

[1] MISO – Międzynarodowy Instytut Społeczeństwa Obywatelskiego, en. The International Institute of Civil Society