Support for Poland's conservative ruling party has fallen sharply, according to a poll on Wednesday, after protests against a further tightening of the abortion law, a diplomatic spat with Israel and contested financial rewards for ministers.
Support for the Law and Justice party (PiS) fell to 28 percent, down 12 percentage points from the previous month, according to the opinion poll by Kantar Millward Brown for TVN television. This was the sharpest fall for PiS in this poll in at least 10 years. "This is the effect of 'the straw that breaks the camel's back'," said Kuba Antoszewski, public relations manager for the pollster in Warsaw. "A lot of events have accumulated and are coming to the surface," he said, listing the protests and the row with Israel, among others. "This is a significant signal." In the past few months, various polls showed support for PiS rising to above 40 percent, helped by robust economic growth, record low unemployment and increased social spending. The sharp drop follows an attempt by the conservative PiS and the powerful Roman Catholic Church to ban most abortions in a move that triggered mass protests across the country last week. PiS has close ties to the Catholic Church and depends on its support in elections, but a large majority of Poles are against a further tightening of the law on abortion. The survey published on Wednesday also showed support for the largest opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), rising by 6 percentage points to 22 percent. The anti-establishment Kukiz'15 gained 4 points to 10 percent, while leftist SLD gained 6 points to 9 percent. The poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday. Earlier this year, a Holocaust law passed by PiS lawmakers triggered the biggest diplomatic spat with Israel and the United States in the last two decades. The United States is Poland's key defence ally. PiS's image also suffered this month when former prime minister Beata Szydlo resisted pressure to repay additional financial compensation she decided to pay herself and her cabinet ministers. The compensation paid out to each recipient in most cases was worth more than 10 average monthly salaries. Szydlo in parliament defended the payments, saying that her government "deserved" it for their hard work. PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski expressed doubts regarding Wednesday's poll. "We approach the results of surveys with respect and humility, but we know how they are conducted so we are full of optimism," he said, without elaborating explaining. Poland holds local elections later this year. The next parliamentary election is due in late 2019
Źródło: Reuters