‘Poles should boycott risky vote during pandemic’

WARSAW: The leader of Europe’s top political party on Tuesday urged Poles to boycott the country’s May 10 presidential election, insisting it was "risky" to hold the vote during the coronavirus lockdown.

Donald Tusk, former Polish prime minister who heads the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), joined a chorus of critics calling for the ballot to be postponed. The governing right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) is seeking parliamentary approval to allow a postal vote on May 10.

But opposition politicians, legal experts and rights watchdogs have questioned the safety and legality of the ballot. Some say that even holding the election by post could put voters at risk, since the ballots would need to be hand delivered.

The legality of the vote was also called into question, since tweaks to the voting rules should be made at least six months before voting day. "Changes made to the election code just before the ballot are unconstitutional", Tusk said in a statement posted Tuesday to Youtube.

He added that a postal vote carried the "risk" of infection. "If all honest, decent Poles say ‘these are not elections, we will not participate in this’, it will be one of the reasons why PiS will withdraw at the last moment," he added.

Polish citizens have been encouraged to stay home since last month to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 570 and infected more than 12,000 in the country. Voters joined Tusk and others in their concern over holding the election next month, according to a survey of 1,100 people conducted by independent pollsters IBRiS.

Only one in four want the vote to go ahead as scheduled on May 10, said the poll published on Tuesday in one of Poland’s leading newspapers. The PiS government is scrambling for votes to pass legislation allowing a postal vote, with parliament due consider the measures on May 7.

Polls show that PiS-allied incumbent President Andrzej Duda could receive 50 percent of the vote for a likely round one victory. Should parliament reject a May 10 postal vote, the PiS wants the ballot postponed for two years, thereby extending Duda’s term.

Human Rights Watch warned of its "serious concerns about free and fair elections and democratic rule of law" in Poland, according to a Tuesday statement.

Even Poland’s powerful Catholic church, which is close to the PiS, on Tuesday urged political parties to "seek solutions which do not raise legal doubts or suspicions of violating the constitutional order or the principles of a free and honest poll".

The PiS government has rejected opposition calls to declare a state of disaster or emergency over the pandemic that would automatically postpone the election. Under the measures, the ballot could be held 90 days after they are formally called off.