Democratic elections, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, should be equal and universal. There are currently many doubts about these aspects. Most often, displacement – meaning the tilt of the field on which political forces compete – is carried out by parties that have more financial and organizational possibilities. Organizational power is always on the side of those in power. Financial possibilities are not always, but most often also on the side of those in power. In Poland, we face a very large imbalance of electoral competition possibilities. Other advantages are of course the media – which are still relatively diverse today. However, government-controlled media – favoring one party – include a news agency, television, radio, and many newspapers and websites. This vast media resource in the hands of one party is a very strong factor disturbing democratic elections.
“There is no doubt that elections in Poland deviate from the democratic model. Elections are not just voting, which will probably take place – although there are still voices that the ruling party may postpone them under any pretext, like an external threat. However, even if elections are held, it does not mean that we are dealing with democracy there,” said Grzegorz Cydejko, an economic journalist, to eNewsroom.pl. “PiS has a direct influence on how public money is spent from government accounts, or from accounts of state-owned companies. This means many times, dozens of times larger financial possibilities than election competitors. This is an extremely painful problem – dozens of times more money to spend on an election campaign than competitors. Another problem is that the ruling party has the ability to diminish the weight of votes by properly preparing electoral districts, recognizing votes, etc. Unfortunately, the next elections will be very unequal – additionally, some citizens have the right to fear that their participation in voting or political elections can be a point for repression or trouble from power. It’s a huge disruption of democratic election principles,” Cydejko assesses.
