"The election in Poland proves that when citizens mobilise with determination and hope, we can defeat the far right, authoritarians and reactionaries", said the European Green Party in response to Sunday's exit poll, which showed that an estimated 72 percent of the Polish voters went to the ballot box.
If confirmed, this will be a record, a higher voter turnout than in the Polish elections of 1989, immediately after the fall of communism. In 2019, the turnout for the Polish Sejm elections was only 61.7%.
The Polish Green Party Zieloni, member of the European Green Party, ran as part of the four-party alliance Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska, KO) led by Donald Tusk. Małgorzata Tracz, MP and member of the European Green Party Committee, is number 2 on the KO list in the Wroclaw constituency.
Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, co-chairs of the European Green Party, comment: "The rise of the hard and far right is never a fatality. This Sunday, pro-European Polish citizens came out in large numbers to change the country after 8 years of a harsh government led by the populist Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS/ECR)”.
“We are thinking today of all Polish women and all LGBTI people who will be able to get their fundamental rights back. Having Poland back at the table of democratic and pro-European governments in the Council will also be a game changer for the whole European Union”.
“In June, Spanish citizens successfully blocked an attempt to install a far-right government. Now Polish citizens may have succeeded in getting one out of power.The results of the Spanish and Polish elections will prove one thing: when citizens mobilise with determination and hope, we can defeat the far right, the authoritarians and the reactionary forces. This gives hope for the upcoming European elections in June 2024, where every vote will count in the fight against climate disasters, social injustice and the far right", conclude Waitz and Vogel.
