Led by 36-year-old entrepreneur Slawomir Mentzen, Konfederacja’s political programme reads like an Elon Musk-Andrew Tate team effort
Konfederacja’s leader Slawomir Mentzen tosses fake money to supporters while speaking in a style closer to that of a stand-up comedian at an election campaign rally last month in Szczecin, Poland. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesCopernicus remains stoic on his central Warsaw plinth as blasts of dry ice and Polish blues-rock waft up from a rally of Konfederacja , the party to watch on Sunday in
For supporters he is a saviour in a corrupt political landscape, for critics he is a populist wrecking ball. Though Konfederacja’s support in polls is down from summer highs of nearly 17 per cent to about 10 per cent now, that is still enough to secure a blocking parliamentary minority of 30-40 seats.
After one term in parliament, and on the campaign trail, Konfederacja has palpably altered the political landscape in this country of 38 million. It has attacked PiS on its generous welfare spending and a series of sleaze scandals, the latest a cash-for-visas affair. A visibly nervous PiS still leads polls, but a likely loss of up to 15 seats has seen it mimic Konfederacja’s mercantile foreign policy: blocking Ukrainian grain imports westward while halting Polish weapons exports eastward.
That risky strategy has created cautious hope in the Tusk camp. A final poll on Friday gave his Civic Coalition alliance 150 seats, well short of a 231-seat majority. Tusk’s only hope at returning to power, after a one-term run a decade ago, is a three-way deal with the Left and the Third Way, a moderate self-styled alternative alliance to the big two political blocs.
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