Poland's United Left puts forward candidate for PM
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.10.2015 18:19
Poland's United Left coalition championed Barbara Nowacka on Sunday as its candidate for the post of prime minister at a Warsaw convention less than a month before the 25 October general election.
Barbara Nowacka speaks at United Left's convention in Warsaw on Sunday. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Michałowski
The coalition brings together five opposition parties, the dominant two of which are the Democratic Left Alliance and Your Movement, joined by the Polish Socialist Party, Labour United and the Greens.
Nowacka is currently co-chairperson of Your Movement, although she does not have a seat in parliament.
During her speech on Sunday, Nowacka argued that the “war” between Poland's two largest parties, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz's Civic Platform and conservative opposition Law and Justice, had caused grave damage to the country.
“We have had ten years of war between Civic Platform and Law and Justice,” she said.
“We have had war and divisions, the detachment of the elite from society and a lack of common goals.”
She also spoke of a need to strengthen workers' rights and the role of trade unions, building on last month's manifesto declarations.
Nowacka is the daughter of the late deputy prime minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, who served from 2004-2005 in a government led by the Democratic Left Alliance.
Jaruga-Nowacka died in the April 2010 Smolensk air crash, along with close to 100 other Polish dignitaries.
As a coalition, the United Left needs to garner 8 percent of the vote to enter parliament (single parties require 5 percent). Recent opinion polls indicate that the coalition my only just scrape into parliament. (nh/rk)