democracy » illiberal democracy » Poland

In Poland after 1989 there was no proper democracy

I read an article in the opposition newspaper „Alterglobal” that in Poland after 1989 there was no proper democracy, because Solidarity movement, that entered to the power and share it with postcommunists, did not wanted any other parties to enter the political scene, so they deliberately made it illiberal democracy and “kicked off the ladder”.

Our media keep repeating that we have democracy in Poland, but I think that they are deceiving people. I believe in democracy, seeing how it works in other countries, and I think that it is a system where wisdom wins, if only…

If only all candidates have equal chances, at least in theory! If only people can hear in elections, what all candidates have to say. Then they can make right choice.

Currently they cannot, because:
– there is horrible information mess, where financially stronger candidates are winning. There is some media time for each of the registered parties, but it gives something like 30 seconds for each of the candidates or something. It is ridiculous! Rich candidates buy media time and broadcast themselves to voters. It is a dominant method!

– Voters do not receive election addresses from every candidate, as the one delivered free of charge by post to the voters in many countries (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_address )

– Newly established parties have no subsidies from federal government. These subsidies- tens of millions of zlotys are given to all parties who get over 3 % hurdle, everything below gets nought. It created a barrier to every new entrant to politics. Other smaller parties do not get even peanuts, like some thousands of zlotys, as if their voters were not citizens. Unequal treatment, subsidies that have nothing to do with equal treatment of market participants, killed polish democracy, and gave power to the oligarchy of few parties that subsidize themselves with state monies.

– Poster wars. Posters are put illegally all over the country, candidates are covering posters of their competitors. It is a messy poster war, nothing more. In my constituency a person won whose poster was illegally hung everywhere, on every busstop in the area!

– There are nearly 20 larger political parties in Poland, of which media present only 5! The rest of them You won’t hear in the media! No way! According to Wikipedia, there are following larger parties in Poland: Centrum DPL KPEiR KPP LPR NL NOP ONP-LP PD PK PR PiS PJKM PKGIP PO PPN PPP PPS PSL PSL „Piast” PWN RACJA PL ROG ROP RP SD SdPl SLD SRP UL UP UPR Zieloni 2004.

If You are a candidate, and would like to get to the voters, You have to pay. To have Your address sent to voters (large constituencies of 1 million people, it costs tens of thousands of zlotys, out of reach for normal candidate), to have Your posters glued onto hundreds of walls, fences and bus-stops, to prepare professional TV-spots and radio spots, which also costs a lot. You need monies, without money all what people can hear about You is 20- 30 seconds in local radio or TV, shoot mostly together with other candidates from Your list. What can You say in several seconds, or in a minute? It is a fake, not democracy.

To restore the democracy, make sure that:

-voters, citizens, get printed information on the manifesto of every candidate in the constituency, in a form of booklet with all election addresses, or something similar.

-candidates get equal treatment in the media. Currently if a dispute is organized in TV, only the representatives of the “established” (i.e. mostly subsidized from government) parties are invited. Other candidates are neglected, as if thy were unequal. Equal treatment is not a rule!

-every candidate separately gets media time in local public media in the same quantity as other candidates. At least several minutes per candidate, five or someting.

-all parties can freely present their programme in the nationwide public media, TVP and POLSKIE RADIO. Parties that are out of parliament currently, should get equal treatment to those that are in!

I read the chats on discussion boards where people, like economists or scientists, write that it makes no sense to participate in elections, because they do not give equal chances as in other countries. To me it seems that they keep illiberal façade democracy and deceive people by telling them that this is how it should to be. And they produce a theater where only post-communist and post-solidarity parties participate. This is a gerontocratic show of the elderly dictators unwilling to share with power! Young, fresh people who lived in the West cannot and mostly won’t participate in such a fake given the fatal fame of politicians among young Poles!

By admin