Who will be the Civic Platform candidate in the presidential elections? Two experts in an interview with PAP – political scientist Prof. Rafał Chwedoruk from the University of Warsaw and sociologist Prof. Jarosław Flis from the Jagiellonian University – agree that the largest party in the ruling coalition will most likely choose Rafał Trzaskowski.
Rafał Trzaskowski is closer to being appointed as a PO candidate for the presidency. I would be surprised if another variant were chosen – said political scientist Prof. UW Rafal Chwedoruk. According to him, the candidacy of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, is much less likely.
Prof. When Chwedoruk was asked who, in the era of the election of Donald Trump as US President, has a greater chance of becoming PO’s presidential candidate, he said that if Rafał Trzaskowski had followed the quotes of the American bookmakers, he ‘ could sleep peacefully for the past few weeks. which cannot be said about the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski.
I’d be surprised by any option other than Trzaskowski, who seems closer to the nomination. Despite his less expressiveness, lack of involvement in personal conflicts and lack of explicit commentary on American reality, he simply has “less baggage” with which to carry him on his first presidential trip abroad.
– said the political scientist.
According to him, Trzaskowski’s entourage can sleep peacefully because they “learned their lesson earlier.” Chwedoruk emphasized that today, few people remember that during the first edition of the Poland of the Future Campus, one of the participating entities was the International Republican Institute – one of the most important Republican think tanks in the US. As he noted, IRI is led by two senators who are the most ardent of Trumpists: Dan Sullivan and Tom Cotton.
Someone at Trzaskowski took into account the possibilities that the situation would develop in different directions, did not put everything on one card and did not make irresponsible statements in public
– noted the expert.
Prof. Chwedoruk said it is difficult for him to imagine that Sikorski could serve in the long term as head of the Foreign Ministry in Poland, in a country that is so strongly pro-American and embroiled in local politics.
He noted that he would have to explain, among other things: from the words of his wife Anne Applebaum, who were very critical of Trump, and during the election campaign from the ideas of shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine or the Ukrainian Legion. For these reasons, Sikorski’s candidacy is much less likely, according to the political scientist.
Prof. Flis: PO has a serious problem with the choice of presidential candidate
PO has a serious problem with its choice of presidential candidate. It is more likely that Rafał Trzaskowski will take action, taking into account the things that the PiS candidate could use to attack Radosław Sikorski – says sociologist Prof. Jarosław Flis.
When asked by PAP whether Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election could influence the choice of the PO candidate for president in next year’s elections, Prof. Flis replied that there is a ‘complicated system of dependencies’ in which both the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, and the president of the capital, Rafał Trzaskowski, have many strong advantages and serious weaknesses.
The Platform certainly has some serious bite
– he assessed.
According to him, Trzaskowski is still the most likely candidate. To Sikorski’s detriment – he noted – are his controversial statements, his wife Anne Applebaum’s unflattering words about Trump, and the fact that his son is a soldier in the US military, which could potentially be attacked by a rival candidate from PiS.
It’s about what you can attack a candidate on and how he can alienate people
– said Prof. Floss.
The political scientist noted that no one has thoroughly investigated the extent to which this kind of thing can be used, because, as many examples have shown, even the best topic can overheat, as PiS did by threatening Donald Tusk before last year’s parliamentary elections. .
Tusk is not a star of social confidence, but turning him into a whipping boy turned out to be a bad tactic and Szymon Hołownia took advantage of it
– he said.
According to Prof. Flis, “the presidential elections in Poland are one big misunderstanding,” electing a person who “behaves like a passenger in a moving car, who cannot drive and can only apply the handbrake.”
In the country’s most brutal, confrontational method of electing one person, we elect someone who has no authority whatsoever.
– he said.
tkwl/PAP
Source: wPolityce