The defense of Poland’s retirement policy remained a core priority for the Law and Justice party after Beata Szydło, the party’s vice president and former prime minister, signaled a second referendum question following her earlier remarks against the government’s retirement age decisions.
On Friday, the party began outlining additional referendum questions. The first question, announced by party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, asks:
Do you support the sale of state owned enterprises?
The second referendum topic, highlighted by Szydło, concerns pensions. She criticized the Tusk era for its approach to women and work, arguing that many Polish women faced extended working years.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Szydło reiterated that defending Poland against what she described as harmful retirement age policies from the Tusk government had already been identified as a priority for PiS during President Andrzej Duda’s 2015 campaign. After the election, PiS moved to implement that pledge by ending the increase in the retirement age. She emphasized that the return of rules forcing Poles to work nearly all their lives would not be accepted and urged voters to participate with the hashtag Poland Decide.
The party’s communication team explained that a fourth referendum question would be added in due course as part of a planned series of questions.
A spokesperson stated that the referendum resolution would be submitted to the Sejm and would include four questions, with further questions to be introduced in the following days. A two day Sejm session was scheduled for August 16 and 17, during which a motion to order a nationwide referendum would be considered.
Earlier this year the issue of relocating migrants within the European Union was raised as a referendum topic. It was discussed in conjunction with plans to hold the referendum alongside autumn parliamentary elections. The discussion also touched on broader EU policy and migration management within Poland and the bloc as a whole.
End of report. Attribution is provided to the respective reporting services and outlets that followed parliamentary procedures and official announcements for the record.