Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated this Sunday in Warsaw in the so-called “March of Million Hearts” against the policies of the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), which has ruled Poland since 2019. The protest had taken place two weeks before the parliamentary elections on October 15, elections that, according to the calling party, the liberal Civic Platform, can decide the future of this country in the European Union and its democratic position.
Opinion polls suggest that PiS will win the election but may struggle to form a majority due to dissatisfaction among some parts of the population over the rising cost of living and concerns about the erosion of democracy.
Almost a million people took part in the demonstration, the largest ever recorded in the capital, according to figures reported by Warsaw City Council spokesman Jakub Leduchowski to the Polish agency PAP.
Public broadcaster TVP, which independent media observers say has become the government’s mouthpiece, has reduced the number of participants to 100,000, citing police sources.
The online news channel onet.pl, however, estimates that between 600,000 and 800,000 citizens took to the streets in Warsaw. “The entire four-kilometer march route is full of participants, including the side streets. We estimate that, according to surveillance recordings, there are around a million people,” confirmed Monika Beuth, spokeswoman for the local council, and also assured that there were no incidents.
Some protesters carried signs that read “PiSexit.” [Salida del PiS] or “The cat can stay”, alluding to the pet of PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
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The opposition hopes the march will encourage voters to take part in the elections, giving it the opportunity to strengthen its voting intentions. “A big change is coming. “This is a sign of Poland’s rebirth,” Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk told the crowd gathered in a central square in Warsaw, where many people waved Polish and EU flags.
Tusk, a former prime minister and former president of the European Council, said PiS could aim to take Poland out of the EU, which the party denies, and described the elections as crucial for the rights of minorities and women. “Nothing will stop this power anymore (…) No one in the ranks of power can have any illusions.” This change for the better is inevitable,” Tusk announced as he opened the march.
PiS, in power since 2019, is leading the polls by a significant margin ahead of elections on the 15th, with polls predicting 38% of the vote, although it may need a partner – such as the far-right Confederation Party – to form a government. With a voting intention of 30%, the Citizens Platform is in second place in the surveys.
The ultra-conservative ruling party campaigned on promises to keep migrants out of Poland, saying it was crucial to national security, and to continue directing money to families and the elderly. “I want to be free, to be in the EU; I want to have a voice and a vote, I want to have free courts,” Hanna Chaciewicz, a 59-year-old dentist from Otwock, a town on the outskirts of Warsaw, said during the march.
PiS disputes Western criticism that it has undermined democratic norms and says its judicial reforms are aimed at making the country fairer and free of traces of communism. But it does not yet have access to billions of euros in European pandemic recovery funds that Brussels has withheld.
“Everyone is investing in jobs and in the fight against the climate catastrophe. And we were denied this money because someone decided to destroy democracy in Poland,” Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, a senior member of the Civic Platform, complained to rally participants.
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