Jaroslaw Kaczynski (PiS) reveals party campaign slogan on Tuesday: photo - PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski
The conservative Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said while revealing his party’s election campaign slogan – ‘Serving Poland, listening to Poles’ – that while Poland should listen to the views of all its neighbours, “politicians should first of all listen to their own citizens” and that “Poles’ voices need to be heard”.
Law and Justice is currently one of the most-eurosceptic parties in Poland and is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European parliament, with the British Conservative party among others.
Meanwhile, the left of centre Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) opposition party set out on Tuesday on a red euro-election campaign bus, which will be touring the country, drumming up votes.
Leszek Miller in the driving seat of SLD's red campaign bus: photo - PAP/Leszek Szymański
Leszek Miller, who leads SLD, told reporters: " We will be traveling by bus, visiting big cities, municipalities and counties and talking to people, asking them to assess the situation in the country and 10 years of Poland’s membership of the EU.”
Miller, who was prime minister when Poland joined the union in 2004, will be asking voters if they think funds received from Brussels have been “spent wisely or wasted”, he said.
SLD is currently on around 10 percent support in the country, behind Law and Justice and Civic Platform.
Manifesto
The ruling centre-right Civic Platform’s manifesto, entitled ‘Strong Poland in a secure Europe’, presents what the party calls an " unambiguously pro-European " programme with emphasis on strengthening further the so-called ‘Eastern Partnership’ initiative and the “target” of adopting the single European currency, though not in the immediate future, they say.
PM Donald Tusk at Civic Platform party congress: photo -PAP/Adam Warżawa
Civic Platform has many references to the Ukraine crisis in the manifesto and mentions adopting a “prudent and long-term integrated and efficient European energy programme” to reduce the EU’s reliance on Russian gas.
Civic Platform, the senior coalition partner in government since 2007, is putting forward some big-hitters as candidates on May 25, including former finance minister Jacek Rostowski and former president of the European Parliament and one-time prime minister of Poland Jerzy Buzek. (pg)
Source: PAP/IAR