Donald Tusk has not been having a good streak lately. The building of a united opposition has become bogged down in disagreements, resulting in setbacks for the opposition rather than progress.
The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) emerged victorious in the so-called “winter battle” — there were no power or heat outages and energy prices remained under control — and the party is enjoying very good results in the polls.
There is growing support among opposition members for a change in leadership and a push to bring Warsaw’s Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski to the forefront.
However, it won’t be easy for Trzaskowski. According to a survey by the Social Changes agency for wPolityce.pl conservative news outlet, Tusk is firmly entrenched as the opposition leader.
In response to the question: “Who do you think is the opposition leader in Poland?” 28 percent of respondents pointed to Donald Tusk. Just 10 percent consider Rafał Trzaskowski to be the leader.
Unexpectedly, Sławomir Mentzen, the leader of the right-wing Confederation ranked third with 3 percent of the votes. Krzysztof Bosak (Confederation) and Szymon Hołownia (Poland 2050) each received 2 percent, while Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (PSL) and Włodzimierz Czarzasty (Left) received 1 percent.
Some 21 percent of respondents felt that “the opposition has no leader,” and as many as 23 percent believed it was “difficult to say.”
Donald Tusk is primarily seen as the opposition leader by Civic Platform’s (PO) supporters, with 69 percent of respondents selecting him. Trzaskowski’s result in this group was 19 percent. The survey confirms that Trzaskowski’s position among Civic Platform voters is weaker than some media suggest.
