One of the leaders of the right-wing Confederation party, Sławomir Mentzen, has reacted strongly against media speculation that his party will enter into coalition with the ruling conservatives after the election, as it is what a large part of the ruling party’s electorate expects.
According to polling data by Pollster Institute, voters who identify themselves as supporters or the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) are in favor of a coalition between their party and the Confederation by a margin of three to two.
However, there is no such enthusiasm for a PiS-Confederation coalition among Confederation voters who reject the proposal by more than two to one.
Latest opinion surveys indicate that Confederation will hold the balance of power after this autumn’s election. As a result, the party is increasingly the subject of speculation as to whom it will form a coalition with.
Sławomir Mentzen took to Twitter to debunk what he sees as the myth of the Confederation forming a coalition with the governing Law and Justice (PiS).
“Our voters don’t want a coalition with PiS and we keep saying, we want to end PiS’s time in office and move them away from the ‘trough,’” he wrote.
He added that “journalists keep writing nonsense about our coalition with PiS. Do I have to use sign language to you for you to understand?” he quipped.
The Confederation party disagrees strongly with PiS on economic policy and personal freedoms such as the right to own firearms. The two parties do however support traditional family and Christian values and oppose the drift towards a federal European Union. In addition, Confederation is increasingly skeptical of PiS’ stance on immigration, with the ruling government opposed to illegal immigration, but having also facilitating a record number of non-European immigrants into the country. PiS has recently come under criticism from even the left over its lax immigration policies, and although it is the same left that has promoted open borders for Poland, the conservative party knows it is vulnerable on the issue.
