“There won’t be one list. We wish all opposition parties well, we are not fighting them, but Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has been saying for months that the best solution is two lists – one centre-left and one centre-right. We are trying to make a centre-right list. I am amazed that some journalists who have been calling all the time for the opposition to unite, how the opposition is starting to unite in the form of the PSL and Poland 2050 agreement, will find this unacceptable to them. Why did they call on the opposition to unite? When we started doing something specific, trying to work out a common program, some journalists didn’t like it. If Poland 2050 and PSL possibly merge within one bloc, what bad would it be? There is no logic here,” said Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, a PSL MP, in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal.
wPolityce.pl: PSL and Poland 2050 create “one list of common problems”. Are you happy with this initiative?
Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski: Absolutely, it’s very reasonable. We are not talking about common lists, the classification of “crutches”, but about specific issues that need to be resolved. This is a valid initiative.
However, if PSL and Poland 2050 eventually start from one list, then this division of “crutches”, ie places on the lists, will finally happen. PSL will then also have to make way for Poland 2050 activists in some districts.
When it comes to drawing up a joint list, no matter who and under what circumstances, there is always a compromise to be made. If PiS accepts Solidarna Polska delegates on the lists, it will. This is very normal.
That’s right, but it’s always a problem for those people who have to relinquish their spot on the list to activists from another party.
I wouldn’t focus on potential problems, just potential opportunities.
If PSL and Poland 2050 started together, what election result do you consider realistic to achieve?
I’m not a big fan of polls, but the two I’ve seen show us hovering around 15 percent right now. If we really had such a result in the elections, then about 70 people from such a committee would enter the Sejm. So there is room to make way for colleagues from Poland 2050, if we start together, of course. We haven’t said we’re going to make a single list yet.
For the time being, KO politicians still hope that Poland 2050 and PSL will start from one opposition list.
The Polish coalition has been saying for months that a single opposition list can guarantee victory for the United Right camp. We are strong advocates of starting two, maybe three lists. We are against the suggestion to submit to one party.
Meanwhile, a new player appears on the Polish political scene – a joint party will be created by the agreement and Agrounia. Is this a potential partner of Poland 2050 and PSL?
As PSL, we had talks, not negotiations, with both Pogranicza and Agrounia, but the party whose name we don’t know yet, founded by Agrounia and Pogranicza, is a new political entity. He’s kind of weird for me personally as far as the show goes, but let’s see what they come up with.
After the famous press conference of Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia in the Sejm, where the creation of “one list of common problems” was announced, PSL and Poland 2050 received a lot of criticism from some media. You seem to be damaging the idea of making a single list, dividing the opposition.
The media has the right to say what they want, as a politician I will certainly not attack the media.
Rightly so, but do you think that criticism is justified? PSL and Poland 2050 are not hurting the entire opposition now?
PSL is a party celebrating its 127th anniversary this year. The PSL survived several turbulences, including the closure of its leader in Bereza Kartuska and the murder of PSL members by the communists after World War II. It is a party that sticks to its roots and views. We see no reason to give way to the centre-right line that we represent and that our constituents represent. If there are parties that are much younger than ours and sometimes turn left, sometimes right, then they have every right to do so, but don’t expect us to submit to their ideas. In 2019, we went on one list, including with the PO and the left, which parties turned strongly to the left. Then 450 thousand. PSL voters did not vote. We cannot afford such experimentation that half a million of our constituents say they disagree with such coalitions. There won’t be one list. We wish all opposition parties well, we are not fighting them, but Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has been saying for months that the best solution is two lists – one centre-left and one centre-right. We are trying to make a centre-right list. I am amazed that some journalists who have been calling all the time for the opposition to unite, how the opposition is starting to unite in the form of the PSL and Poland 2050 agreement, will find this unacceptable to them. Why did they call on the opposition to unite? When we started doing something specific, trying to work out a common program, some journalists didn’t like it. If Poland 2050 and PSL possibly merge within one bloc, what bad would it be? There’s no logic here.
I understand the logic here is that supporters of a single list would like the opposition parties to talk together about building a joint list, not create some separate, competing blocs in the opposition.
But who defends the PO for talking to the left? You have to start somewhere, we have entered into a dialogue with Poland 2050, we are doing something, so let other parties in the opposition do something too, and not just criticize.
The Vice President of Poland 2050, Michał Kobosko, appeared on Radio Wrocław and spoke there, among other things: that the PO was not interested in talking about the program, only there is the view, also put forward by Donald Tusk himself, that one must first win with PiS, and then think about what to do. Do you share this opinion?
Yes, I also heard from Minister Leszczyna that “we will talk about the program after the elections”. Well, if we win the election, we should know immediately what we want to introduce. You must have prepared solutions in the areas of economy, health, energy, relations with the EU, etc. You must have it ready, it will not work itself out. That must be ready before the elections, not that after the elections all opposition parties will sit down and think first about who is going to take over which ministry, and then we will think about exactly what we would like to do. We must be ready to work immediately. I also want to take PiS out of power, but I want to do it to fix things that PiS broke as much as possible, for example in the energy sector. We have a programme, now we agree on Poland 2050.
You said there would be no opposition list whatsoever. It is already 100% sure that PSL will not start from the same list as KO?
In politics you never say never, and secondly, I am not a decision maker in this matter, this is decided by the Supreme Council of the Polish People’s Party. However, the majority of party management has long believed that mentioning the opposition from one list is inappropriate, so it would take a major political earthquake for the PSL to start from one list in the first place. I don’t think it’s going to happen and I don’t really see the logic of such a start. I recently read an interview with Prof. Raft, who clearly proved that starting two or three opposition blocs is more beneficial than starting from one list. I’ve seen several analyzes that all show that one opposition bloc causes some voters not to vote at all and some for the Confederacy. So this concept is not the right solution, I don’t see the possibility of such a scenario, but you can always speculate.
Adam Stankiewicz spoke
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Source: wPolityce