The most imptorant debate before parliamentary elections 2023 in Poland. Six polish parties were gathered in one studio to force audience give their voices for them. There are some opinions of specialists and public who they assume came off as a winner of the pre-election debate
Organizational part of the pre-election debate
To begin with, the debate was organised by Polish pro-government television channel TVP, which is considered to be an instrument of propaganda by numerous freedom NGOs, including Reporters Without Borders. Earlier representatives of the authorities have announced, that the event will take place in the prime time, after 8 PM. However, broadcast changed it to 6:30 PM unexpectedly for citizens. Moreover, the place of the debate also initially meant to be another one. Finally, it was hold in a hired private studio at Wał Miedzeszyński Street in Warsaw. According to thoughts of commentators, it was made to prevent crowds of government’s opposers from gathering near the location.
Politicians were discussing questions that were divided into 6 blocks: migration, privatization, retirement age, security, unemployment and social benefits. There was also time for free speech.
Morawiecki vs Tusk
Mateusz Morawiecki from the left and Donald Tusk from the right. Source: Google
Eventually, the majority of the audience was disappointed by the way the representatives of the competing parties have shown themselves during the debate – Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who is a representative of “Prawo i Sprawiedliwość” and the leader of “Platforma Obywatelska” Donald Tusk. Defintely, their appearance in the same studio left no doubt that during the pre-election debate there would be disagreements and arguments.
To illustrate, Tusk criticized Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, quoting his own words from 2010 and accusing him of lying. – As you can see, he fully deserved his famous nickname “Pinocchio”, – said the leader of “PO”. The Prime Minister of Poland also did not hold back in his statements. “All against one, gang of redheads” – that’s how Mateusz Morawiecki started the debate. The question was about migration, and these words were a response to Tusk’s criticism of Kaczynski and TVP.
“Tusk about Morawiecki’s “Pinocchio”. Morawiecki about Tusk’s “gang of redheads”. This is the debate of one of the largest countries in Europe, when war is near and we have the most serious civilizational challenges in decades, or, excuse me, some kindergarten of populism?” – Wprost journalist Marcin Makowski wrote on the X network (formerly Twitter).
Tusk o Morawieckim „Pinokio”. Morawiecki o Tusku „banda rudego”. To jest debata jednego z największych państw Europy, gdy obok trwa wojna i mamy najpoważniejsze wyzwania cywilizacyjne od dekad, czy przepraszam, jakieś przedszkole populizmu?
— Marcin Makowski (@makowski_m) October 9, 2023
Hołownia and Scheuring-Wielgus came off best
According to commentators, Szymon Hołownia from “Trzecia Droga” and Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus from “Lewica” performed better than Morawiecki and Tusk.
“Szymon Hołownia and Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus benefited the most from this. Because they were on the sidelines when sparks were still flaring between Tusk and Morawiecki because of their taunts. They were left alone and could express themselves,” said during the live on TOK.FM radio station Marcin Celiński, a representative of the Arbitr and Reset Obywatelski publishing houses.
Bosak vs Maj
Although speeches of Krzysztof Bosak from “Konfederacja” and Krzysztof Maj from “Bezpartyjni Samorządowcy” did not get such various comments but still were also appreciated.
According to publicist Jakub Majmurka, Bosak was concrete and well-prepared. The publicist added that the politician’s speech lacked emotion and brilliant lines, but a right-wing voter, disillusioned with “PiS” party and spectator of the prime minister’s “feats” on TVP, could decide that it is worth to give Bosak a chance.
On the other hand, Krzysztof Maj, who caused great interest among network users. According to Business Insider, Maj and Scheuring-Wielgus generated the biggest interest among Internet users, according to a comparison of Google searches.
However, according to the newest poll by Pollster Institute for the Super Express Tabloid, Polish opposition has a high chance of forming the next government. Rafał Madajczak, editor-in-chief of Gazeta.pl, successfully summarized the pre-election debates. He noted that the most important thing is not the pre-election debate, but a winner of the elections on October 15.
Anna Dubova
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