Right-wing lessons of the Polish Presidential elections
May 13th, 2015Commenting on the first round of the Polish Presidential election, a conservative commentator draws a parallel between the situation of the centre-right governments of Poland and Hungary. Another columnist fears that the rise of the populist Law and Justice party may hamper V4 regional cooperation.
Economic and diplomatic success is no guarantee for electoral success, Gábor Stier comments in Magyar Nemzet on the first round of the Polish Presidential election. The conservative columnist contends that the Civic Platform assumed victory because under its rule the country has been growing fast and has also become an important power player in European politics. Stier suggests that the Polish election has important implications for Hungary. He attributes the surprising pole position of Law and Justice’s Andrzej Duda before the second round to growing public discontent over corruption. The Polish centre-right government, which has been preoccupied with marginalizing the Left and containing the far-right, has been punished by voters who are becoming dissatisfied with the mainstream elites and thus turn to populist parties, Stier concludes.
In Magyar Hírlap, Gyula Máté T. believes on the other hand that Polish voters have grown dissatisfied with the centre-right government because of its uncritical support of the EU. Máté fears that Poland is becoming politically disintegrated with negative consequences for the prospects of a strong regional cooperation among the four Visegrád countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.