President Andrzej Duda kicked off his first presidential campaign speech by thanking those gathered for creating “an extraordinary reception and atmosphere” as well as his wife and family for constantly supporting him.
The president emphasized that he was touched by the praise and kinds words from Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and former Prime Minister Beata Szydło, who are all actively campaigning for Duda.
“I was especially moved by Jarosław Kaczyński’s words, who spoke of service to Poland alongside his deceased brother, President Lech Kaczyński,” Duda said.
The incumbent president thanked voters who had supported him from the very beginning in 2015 when no one believed in his chances for victory.
He added that what mattered most to him were the issues of Poles. He said the most important mission of his presidency and the ultimate goal of PiS is to increase the standard of living of Poland’s citizens.
Duda stressed that there were many challenges ahead, especially when it comes to supporting pensioners and pushing through judicial reforms so that Poland would have “honest judges who would be independent of their bosses and think for themselves”.
The president declared that he will travel throughout all of Poland because that is what he understands the role of a president should be.
“A president should meet with his countrymen, people should speak with their president,” he said.
Duda referred to political division within families and asked for people to respect the opinions of others. He said that without differing viewpoints “we could not speak of a democracy”.
The president announced that he will “hit the road” soon and invited Poles everywhere to come and meet with him.
“Long live Poland!” he concluded.
After the convention, Duda met with the audience who were not able to fit into the main hall of the event.
Although the inauguration convention is behind us, Duda’s speech was an immediate hit on social media, with it quickly going viral in Poland.
