"Erosion of checks and balances". OSCE observers issue statement on Polish parliamentary election

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Monday (Oct. 16) published a statement regarding the joint observation mission to monitor the October 15 parliamentary election in Poland.

The international observers said the Sunday's election "were characterized by record high voter participation with a wide choice of political options and candidates able to campaign freely, but the campaign was tarnished by notable overlap between the ruling party’s messages and government information campaigns".

"Together with distorted and openly partisan coverage by the public broadcaster, this provided a clear advantage to the ruling party, undermining the democratic separation of state and party," the OSCE added.

The international observers said that "yesterday’s elections took place in a highly polarised atmosphere and were regarded by many as critical to Poland’s democratic future".

"The joint observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) and Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), found that the legal framework provided a sufficient basis to hold democratic elections. While recent legal amendments incorporated some previous recommendations made by ODIHR, their adoption occurred shortly before the elections and without meaningful public consultation," they statement added.

Special Co-ordinator Pia Kauma said that "Sunday’s parliamentary elections, while offering Polish voters different political alternatives, took place in a complex and polarized political environment". In her view, "this translated into a campaign dominated by a highly confrontational tone, with regular use of inflammatory rhetoric and personal attacks against the main party leaders".

Furthermore, the statement said "while freedoms of association and assembly were respected in a pluralistic campaign, it was marred by the misuse of state resources".

"The overlap between the ruling party’s campaign messages and government information campaigns as well as state-controlled companies and their foundations, including on the referendum, gave a further significant advantage to the ruling party. In addition, the lack of detailed campaign finance reporting ahead of election day as well as ineffective regulation for the referendum had a negative impact on the accountability of political party and campaign finance," the OSCE stressed.

According to the observers, "the run-up to the election remained peaceful overall".

"However, the campaign was highly confrontational and often negative, with candidates repeatedly using intolerant, misogynistic and discriminatory language, including anti-migrant narratives from some parties that were at times xenophobic. Personal verbal attacks against the main party leaders were widespread."

"While the elections in Poland were competitive, we noted the erosion of checks and balances to gain further control over state institutions by the governing party, including the courts and the public media," said OSCE PA head of delegation Pere Joan Pons. "This tilted the playing field, which meant the opposition did not have fully equal opportunities," he added.

Douglas Wake, head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission, noted that "equality, inclusiveness and transparency are key to good election administration and vital for an election to fully meet democratic standards".

"But while Poland’s election administration performed efficiently, transparency was regrettably limited. More troublingly, we observed that the ruling party and its candidates gained a clear advantage from the misuse of state resources, undermining the separation between state and party," he added.

"The international election observation mission to the Polish parliamentary elections totalled 154 observers from 44 countries, consisting of 33 ODIHR-deployed experts and long-term observers, 94 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, and 27 from PACE," the statement added.