Poland's Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak has criticized retired generals who run in the parliamentary election on opposition lists. The Poles, on the other hand, are very critical of the PiS government. According to the majority of respondents in the latest Kantar poll for "Fakty" TVN and TVN24, PiS has been using the military in its election campaign. 77 percent of those surveyed claim that the military should remain apolitical.
In a special survey conducted by Kantar for "Fakty" TVN and TVN24, the respondents were asked the following question: "In your opinion, should the Polish military be apolitical?".
As many as 77 percent of those asked gave affirmative answers.
18 percent said "no".
The answer "hard to say" was picked by 5 percent of respondents.
Poll: PiS was using the military in election campaign
The respondents were also asked another question: "In you opinion, did Law and Justice use the military in its election campaign?".
56 percent of those asked gave affirmative answers.
35 percent said "no".
The answer "hard to say" was picked by 9 percent of respondents.
The telephone survey was carried out by Kantar on October 10-12 on a nationwide, representative sample of 1,702 people aged 18+.
Top generals quit
Two top Polish army commanders resigned on Tuesday (Oct. 10), days before an election in which the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has made national security a key issue in its bid for an unprecedented third term in power.
They come against a backdrop of heightened tension between the military high command and the nationalist government since Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak in May said the army had failed to inform him of a missile heading toward the country.
Polish media reported that a military object found in a forest in northern Poland in April was a Russian KH-55 missile, and that Polish armed forces had seen an object entering the country's air space in December but then had lost track of it.
The two generals are armed forces operational commander, Lieutenant General Tomasz Piotrowski, and the chief of staff, General Rajmund Andrzejczak.
President Andrzej Duda appointed Lieutenant General Wieslaw Kukuła as chief of staff and Major General Maciej Klisz as armed forces operational commander.
Rattled by Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Poland has increased military spending to around 4% of national output this year and has also moved soldiers to its border with Belarus, a close ally of Moscow.
With a closely contested election in Poland on Oct. 15, experts said the pace of military spending and the domestic debate around it were being driven in part by campaigning.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Kantar for "Fakty" TVN and TVN24, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Fakty TVN