Poland is holding a parliamentary election on Sunday that's seen by many as the most important since the nation threw off communist rule in 1989. The populist ruling party, Law and Justice, hopes for an unprecedented third term.
Historian Dariusz Stola, who worked with the anti-communist underground movement Solidarity in the 1980s, speaks to The Associated Press in his home in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. As a historian and a former dissident, Stola sees parallels between the way the communist authorities and Poland’s populist leaders use propaganda and distort the truth for political ends.
Stola has first-hand experience. As director of Warsaw’s Jewish history museum, he lost his job after he refused to go along with some of the government’s demands. He believes his resistance helped preserve the museum’s independence. The vote’s significance extends well beyond Poland’s borders. The country is a member of NATO and the EU, staunchly pro-American and one of Ukraine’s strongest allies in the war against Russia.
Since it won power in 2015, Law and Justice has faced repeated allegations from the European Union and human rights groups that it is eroding democratic norms. The EU has accused the Polish government of undermining the rule of law with an overhaul of theAlready, political scientists say the elections will not be fully fair because of the way the party has strengthened control over state bodies, dismantling the guardrails in ways big and small.has cut interest rates twice despite high inflation.
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