Poland: Far-Right Shift Reflects Disatisfaction With Establishment

“The political divide in Poland is not being left and right, it’s between the centre-right parties and the further right parties”, Annabelle Chapman, an independent journalist based in Warsaw, told Hromadske. The far-right in Poland is growing despite the country not experiencing particular economic hardship. Rather the shift to the far right reflects broader dissatisfaction with the political elite in Poland, said Chapman

Since Andrzej Duda, Poland's far-right presidential candidate, won the first round the momentum has been with him and this could prove very decisive in the second round, according to Chapman. Unlike Duda, Bronisław Komorowski, Poland's incumbent president, struggles to convincingly promise change because he is the establishment.

“The result will depend on what percentage of Komorowski’s old supports decide to vote against him because they’re unhappy with the situation or whether they’re going to support him". Personalities are likely to play a big role in the second round, said Chapman, Komorowski belongs to the old generation of opposition activists from the communist times whereas Duda belongs to post-Communist Poland.

Hromadske International's Maxim Eristavi and Sabra Ayres spoke with Annabelle Chapman via Skype on May 17, 2015.