In an interview with Do Rzeczy, Sławomir Mentzen, chairman of the libertarian New Hope party and presidential candidate for the Confederation coalition, tells readers that he is “much more credible on key issues” than PiS candidate Karol Nawrocki.
“I think that in my case it is more difficult to get to the second round than to win the election. I still have to convince many Poles that nothing is impossible. My presence in the second round of the presidential elections would be the biggest change in Polish politics in a good 20 years. Many people find it hard to imagine such a change. I see a real chance for such a scenario, although it will be extremely difficult,” he says.
When asked how he will win over PiS voters to make it to the second round, Mentzen says: “I am much more credible on key issues that have dominated the current election campaign, such as opposition to mass immigration, the Green Deal, sending Polish troops to Ukraine, or further financial aid for Ukraine. On all these issues, Law and Justice has unfortunately let its voters down in the past. My credibility is the first reason that should convince many PiS voters to vote for me.”
The Confederation politician also said he simply has “a better chance of defeating Rafał Trzaskowski than Karol Nawrocki in the second round.”
Explaining why PiS voters should instead vote for him, he said: “Everything indicates that if Karol Nawrocki entered the second round, the votes of my voters, I mean the electorate of the Confederation, could be divided. If I were in the second round and not Nawrocki, no PiS voter would support Trzaskowski.”
Commenting on Mentzen’s chances on the latest episode of the podcast “Mówiąc Wprost,” the former spokesman for President Andrzej Duda, Krzysztof Łapiński, said Nawrocki will not repeat Andrzej Duda’s success of a decade ago.
Łapiński explained that the political situation in which Duda had to fight in 2015 was completely different. At that time, society was tired of eight years of Civic Platform rule, and Donald Tusk’s party was struggling with a leadership crisis. These factors favored PiS and allowed it to gain broad support, which is not visible today, he said.
He also noted that support for Nawrocki is not as high as his supporters would have expected, but it is not disastrous either. Polls indicate that the PiS candidate can still count on support of around 25-30 percent.
As to “some concern resulting from the fact that Sławomir Mentzen has very high ratings,” Łapiński said that Mentzen is attracting some of the PiS electorate, but is really taking votes away from Hołownia, who was one of the main favorites in the presidential race just a few months ago. This makes the competition for the second round even more fierce, the former Duda spokesman concluded.
