A surprise presidential win for Poland's conservative Karol Nawrocki signals potential clashes lie ahead with the pro-European government’s reform agenda.
Yesterday accidentally watched the news on TV where they not only had the audacity to call this guy a "conservative", but also firmly placed his opponent in the "left wing". "Journalists" these days.
This presoposes that we defend the status quo. Trumps reelection and now the polish election made it clear that this is a losing strategy. We need a new approach to countering fascism and for rebuilding democracy.
One of the key things to take away from this is that our current tactics are insufficient, mostly because they stick to "old-style" decorum while the far right doesn't impose any of those kinds of limits upon themselves. We essentially handicap ourselves by "playing nice" while the people we're up against have no such qualms in the slightest. If we don't learn to fight dirty as well we might as well give up right now.
Yes, it's a struggle to fight against Fascism, always has, always will be. It's a nasty infection.
On the other hand, Fascism only ever has an easy time at it if we let them. Keep fighting. They may have won the battle, but the war isn't over until they wipe out the ideas of personal freedom and self-determination.
The horrible thing though is most elections our choice is a facist who paints themselves as representatives of the working class (but basically wants to make the world worse for everyone). Or a pro-elite neoliberal center or center-“left” candidate who inevitably doesn’t solve much at all except doing everything to undermine the left which essentially means next time there is widespread discontent the far right will benefit.
I hate this world. (Obviously, I prefer and vote for the centrist candidates, but the outlook in the long run is hella grim).
Essentially:
(Neo)liberals: Cut public services, deregulate markets, manage inequality, repress protest.
The left opposition is marginalised, criminalised, or co-opted.
There is widespread alienation Especially among the working class and youth.
->
Far right steps in: Offers fake solidarity, nationalism, scapegoats.
->
(Neo)liberals say: “We’re the only thing standing between you and fascism.”
->
Repeat.
I'm not sure, how much power the president have in the Polish system? Is most of the power in Prime Minister as in Italy or is it more like France? The prime minister is still Tusk, he is not seems perfect, but seeing the options I hope he will continue in office
Although executive power lies largely with Poland’s parliament, the presidency carries the power to veto legislation.
As such, the election outcome is being closely monitored not only in Poland but also in Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and across the European Union.
So as far as I understand. As long as PiS doesn’t win legislative elections. It basically means Poland will be in gridlock for a long time and get nothing done.