The Polish parliament passed a law on Wednesday (August 16) that will allow a national referendum to be held on the same day as parliamentary elections that are scheduled for October 15.
The ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) want Poles to answer four questions, in what some analysts view as a bid to mobilize the core electorate for an election they say is the most important since the fall of communism in 1989.
Poles will vote on whether they support the privatization of state companies; a higher retirement age; the dismantling of the fence on the border with Belarus and accepting thousands of migrants under a migration deal with the European Union.
PiS says that the main opposition party, the liberal Civic Platform (PO), which is led by Former European Council President Donald Tusk, is subservient to foreign interests, particularly those of Germany.
Germans want to embed Tusk in Poland to sell off common property, ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński said earlier this week.
PO rejects such criticism, and accuses the government of awarding well-paid roles in state-owned firms to people as a way of rewarding them for their support.
The parliament needs to formally approve the referendum questions and will vote on Thursday.
After Wednesday's meeting of Civic Platform National Council, Donald Tusk said: "I hereby invalidate this referendum before you".
"This referendum is invalid in the deepest and the widest meaning of this word. Some pretend it's a political game, while PiS is making a political campaign using state funds," he added.
Later that day, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki commented on Tusk's words on social media.
"What kind of autocrat wants to invalidate voices of the Poles? If he wants to invalidate referendum votes, he can do it - but in Germany, if Mr Manfred Weber and his German friends allow him to," Morawiecki said.
"Here, in Poland, he has no say in the matter of referendum invalidating."
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24