SLD rift over Ogórek candidacy?
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
07.02.2015 11:31
Tempers have started to flare within the ranks of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) over the presidential candidacy of former broadcaster and historian Dr. Magdalena Ogórek.
Dr. Magdalena Ogorek (L) and Leszek Miller, leader of SLD, at a press conference in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
“Magda Ogórek was picked out of the hat like a rabbit at the party board meeting,” former head of the youth wing of SLD, Gregorz Gruchalski told TVN24 news station.
“This was a dishonest move against all those SLD members who would like to get on board [the presidential campaign] but don’t know the candidate,” Gruchalski opined, adding that Ogórek “was not known in the party, she isn’t a member”.
According to TVN24, local party activists claim that party leader Leszek Miller is afraid of calling a national convention as Ogórek’s candidacy could be undermined by members of the SLD.
The internal rift has reportedly grown so strong that Ogórek is having to work on her manifesto on her own as other party activists shun her presidential hopes. It is not known whether she will muster the 100,000 signatures needed to officially enter the presidential race.
Ogórek was nominated by Miller earlier in January as the SLD’s candidate for the presidential elections on 10 May.
“We are confident that Dr. Magdalena Ogorek is a symbol of change, including a generational one,” Miller said during the announcement. “She is a symbol of the opening up of Polish politics to a young European generation of Polish men and women,” he added. (jb)