Poland's nationalist-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party has appointed Przemysław Czarnek as its lead candidate for the 2027 parliamentary elections, in a bid to reclaim right-wing voters. The 48-year-old law professor, who has been the party's deputy head since 2025, previously served as Poland's Minister of Education and Science from 2020 to 2023. His proposed reforms at the time triggered widespread protests, with universities accusing Czarnek of infringing on academic freedoms.

In his inaugural speech as the party's new lead candidate, Czarnek stated he wanted to be the "engineman of a well-oiled bullet train" with party leader Jarosław Kaczyński at the helm. He also targeted the man he aims to replace, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and his pro-European government, which has been in power since 2023. According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Czarnek said, "We want to take care of the authentic Poland," adding, "This true Poland we want to give back to the Polish people, so that the normal, ordinary Pole can once again be a citizen of his own state."

Czarnek criticized the European Union's climate policies, particularly the emissions trading system, asserting that Polish coal remains the bedrock of Poland's energy security. He juxtaposed the "leftist project in Brussels" with the "real and normal Poland." Reiterating his much-criticized anti-LGBTQ+ stance, he insisted that a "normal" family consists of a man and a woman, a grandfather and a grandmother. Mocking same-sex marriage, he asked, "Why should marriage just include two men, why not three or four?"

Reacting to the PiS nomination, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski of Tusk's centrist Civic Coalition snidely remarked that Czarnek would be a "good candidate" for the office of prime minister: "Not in Poland, but in Afghanistan, where his views on education and women's rights are already being implemented." Political scientist Olgierd Annusewicz of the University of Warsaw noted that, given the party's plummeting popularity, PiS's main goal is to win back right-wing voters, and "Czarnek can do that."

For years, PiS has faced no competition from the right. Now, two far-right groups are challenging Kaczyński's party. In the 2023 parliamentary election, PiS garnered 35% of the popular vote. Currently, support for the party has dropped to around 20%—the same as both far-right parties combined. Should PiS fail to secure a solid majority in the 2027 election, it might have to share power with Braun's confederation. Consequently, PiS is attempting to poach voters by displaying its own radical tendencies. As the daily Gazeta Wyborcza commented, "Thanks to his extreme ideas, Czarnek can win back extreme voters. He is radical, homophobic, and nationalistic."

Source: www.dw.com