As Poles prepare to vote, public broadcaster does black job for A. Duda

Duda remains the leader in opinion polls, but faces a recent rally in the second round. Mayor of Warsaw Rafalu TrzaskowskiHe would not necessarily rejoice in victory.

The latest Europe Elects poll shows that in the first round, Duda can expect 41%. votes, R. Trzaskowski – 30 percent. 11 percent Votes are forecast for journalist and television presenter Szymon Holownia.

However, Andžejus Pukšto, Head of the Department of Political Science, Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) 15 minutes He said he was not sure that A. Duda did not have enough votes to win in the first round.

Fictional characters

Press service monitoring Mediów media monitoring shows that from June 3 to 16, almost 97 percent of the TVP news. The stories related to A. Duda were positive, 3 percent. – neutral, there were no negatives. There were fewer stories related to R. Trzaskowski, but almost 87 percent. they were negative, the rest were neutral, there were no positives.

According to A.Pukštas, the public broadcaster is influential in shaping public opinion only because of the large scale: four radio and four television programs, the Internet portal.

“The public broadcaster, who clearly supported Duda, has an influence,” said the political scientist.

An interview with “American fashion designer Christian Paul”, who praised the first Mrs. Agat Kornhauser-Duda as a style icon, was compared to Melania Trump on TVP on Monday. However, internet users were unable to find a designer by that name, and it soon became apparent that he was a Warsaw-based Chicago-based Pole with little to do with the fashion industry. wp.pl.

The day after the report, he created a Twitter account and posted information about his alleged fashion business, posting a 30-second video denying him allegations of pretending. When users noticed he had a Polish accent, the post was removed. The TVP interviewed him in English, although it later emerged that the “designer” was fluent in Polish.

Notes from Poland notes that this is not the first time that a fictional character has spoken on TVP. Last year, an interview was broadcast with a “Belgian journalist” who criticized the former prime minister, critic of the ruling Donald Tusk, in French. Later it turned out that he was a Polish-speaking TVP employee.

When PiS came to power, the press freedom situation in the country deteriorated. Poland fell to a record low of 62 on the Media Freedom Index released in April. Five years ago, she was ranked 18. For comparison: Lithuania ranked 28th this year, Latvia – 22, Estonia – 14.

Historian Timothy Garton Ash has been writing for The Guardian for over 40 years, seeking to dispel the Western stereotype that Poland is a stubborn, narrow-minded, reactionary, nationalist, and anti-Semitic country.

“State television is now implementing this stereotype. Supposedly defending the good name of Poland, the TVP is hurting it. Seeing anti-Polish forces everywhere, he himself is an anti-Polish force, causing serious damage to the country’s reputation in the world, “writes T. Garton Ash.

Jewish and LGBT compensation cards

A recent poll by the Pew Research Center shows that 47 percent Polish believe that homosexuality should be acceptable in society.

During this electoral campaign, A. Duda and other representatives of the ruling “Law and Justice” (PiS) party attacked the LGBT community on TVP and elsewhere.

The TVP broadcast that Duda would defend “children of LGBT ideology,” said another PiS MP, saying that “LGBT people are not the same as normal people.”

This month, Duda came to the forefront of the world’s media by comparing “LGBT ideology” with communism. In general, the rulers used the narrative that “LGBT is not people, but ideology”.

READ ALSO: New attack on LGBT by Poland in the run-up to the presidential elections

The sensitive issue of restitution of property for victims of the Holocaust was also addressed during this campaign.

“Experts have no doubt that the cash flow currently flowing from the state budget into the pockets of Polish families will end if Trzaskowski, after his possible victory, seeks to meet the needs of the Jews,” broadcast TVP News.

Poland is the only country in the European Union (EU) that does not have laws on compensation for Jewish property. Last year, PiS-owned Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said it would never be, and that such compensation would be “Hitler’s victory.”

According to A. Pukštas, in the last five years, Polish society has become even more polarized, and fragmentation is currently high.

“Although that divide was visible 15 years ago, when the Polish political scene moved to two dominant parties. And those two political parties are correct: PiS and Citizens’ Platform (PO). Significant progress has been made since the president’s death. Kaczynski. And the last five years have exacerbated that polarization. ” 15 minutes said the political scientist.

According to him, there is no return to the multi-party nature that existed in Poland 20 years ago.

According to A.Pukštas, both political forces exploit the polarization, however it seems that R. Trzaskowski is trying not to forcefully bend the stick.

“On the one hand, he began his participation in the presidential elections very abruptly. He said that one of the first jobs will be the reform of the public radio station.” On the other hand, he did not attack Duda and PiS with great force. Probably, this may be the formula for their success, “said the political scientist.

According to A.Pukštas, the fact that he is not connected with the former leadership of the PO, has little to do with the current one, it can also contribute to the success of R. Trzaskowski.

Will the meeting with Trump help you?

On Wednesday, a few days before the election, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, received Duda at the White House. During the meeting, the US President promised to deploy part of the withdrawing US troops from Germany to Poland.

Trump said that “President Duda is doing very well in Poland” and that “he is doing a great job.” In response to criticism of the timing of the visit, the President of the United States added: “The Polish people value him extremely well. I don’t think you need my help. “

During the meeting, Trump praised “Poland’s vigilant efforts to preserve the rule of law.” For its part, the European Commission (EC) has launched four legal proceedings against Poland in the event of a threat to the rule of law, and the EC has also activated Article 7, which could deprive Poland of the right to vote in the EU.

In the latest Freedom House report Poland has dropped from the list of consolidated democracies and is now considered a semi-consolidated democracy.

A. Pukštas does not believe that A. Duda’s visit to the White House can help him in the elections.

“However, the voter is more interested in domestic politics: foreign policy and foreign affairs are in the future. The distribution of forces that occurred about a week ago is likely to remain that way. Perhaps only at the party in Yes, Duda felt a little stronger, “said A.Pukštas.

Trzaskowski shared a video in which the mayors of various European countries, including London, Madrid and Helsinki, expressed their support.

Meeting with M. Morawieckis on June 12, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis emphasized the strategic partnership between the countries.

“Therefore, it is very important to maintain this strategic partnership. There was everything in our history, so I hope that the people of Lithuania and Poland will support the political forces and politicians who have made us have strategic partners,” ELTA quoted S Skvernelis.