Poles choose political stability

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Editor, news2biz POLAND

All comments by Lech Kaczanowski

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The result of the Sunday vote seems to suggest that for the first time in decades the Poles have more to lose than gain. The average Polish voter has reached a certain point of comfort, where stability seems like a much better option than allowing any revolutionaries to gamble with the country's future. It is truly remarkable, that a party that promised the least in terms of social spending, benefits and the like, has received close to 40% of votes in a country that used to fall for all kinds of empty promises in the past. This, in our view, reflects the normalization of Polish politics and the consolidation of a broader and more stable centre in the country's political system. The appearance of a socially liberal grouping on the left end of the political spectrum, the Palikot Movement, and its strong result in the vote, also paradoxically confirms a growing maturity of Poland's political life.

Although frequently criticized for avoiding difficult decisions, Donald Tusk and his party steered Poland through the financial crisis and ensuing global slowdown without letting it slip into recession. Tusk tightened Poland's relations with Germany and the rest of Europe. While relations with the United States remained warm, Mr. Tusk's government was less reflexively pro-American. He removed the last of Poland's troops from Iraq in 2008 and bridged some of the gaping divide between Poland and Russia, despite the fallout of the Smolensk presidential airplane disaster.

The raging European debt crisis has had little effect on the Poles, many of whom are still feeling mainly the positive effects of their country's EU membership in the form of nationwide infrastructure development boom and other EU-sponsored projects. The increasingly open-minded and worldly Poles rejected Jaroslaw Kaczynski's combative attitude toward the European Union and his obsessive fears of Poland's larger neighbours. Kaczynski's allegations, expressed in a recent book, that Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, had been elected with the help of the Stasi and wanted to restore German influence in western Poland, may have cost him a few percent of votes.

Following his re-election, Donald Tusk has a unique opportunity to implement a number of necessary but crucial reforms on the domestic scene and consolidate Poland's increasingly important role as a member of the European Union. With the 27-nation bloc facing a number of monumental decisions, including treaty changes, and tackling the worst crisis in its history, Tusk's conciliatory and realistic approach may be exactly what Poland and Europe need. The Poles seem to have realized that it was way too critical a time to be giving power to people who are nothing but spoilers.

"Poland has all it takes to become one of Europe's most dynamic societies and it is currently among the world's top investment destinations," one foreign investor told news2biz last week. "All you need is political stability." Judging by the election results, an average Pole shared this sentiment.