Two weeks from the Polish parliamentary elections, the opposition is gathering in the center of Warsaw today. More than a million people responded to that call and came to the capital, the city government says.
“When I see those hundreds of thousands of smiling faces, I feel that a decisive moment in the history of our homeland is coming,” said Donald Tusk, former Prime Minister, former President of the European Council and now leader of the opposition party Civic Coalition (PO). . That party emerged from the Civic Platform. The left-wing party Razem also supports the action.
The demonstrators carry signs with slogans such as: ‘We have enough and want change’ and ‘Together we have power’. “Nothing can stop this power,” Tusk added. “Let no one up there in the ranks of power have any illusions. This change is inevitable.”
The March of a Million Hearts, as Tusk called it, started at 12 noon. Based on the police, the PAP news agency said there were just 100,000 demonstrators, but the city council said there were 1 million demonstrators. “This is definitely the largest demonstration in the history of Warsaw,” said mayoral spokeswoman Rafal Trzaskowski (PO).
The nationalist conservatives of Law and Justice (PiS) have been leading the country for eight years. On Thursday, Tusk said of them at a meeting in the northern city of Elblag that “they will not intimidate us, they will not silence us, it is essential that all of Poland sees that no one is afraid of them anymore.”
PiS is organizing its own event on Sunday in the southern city of Katowice. That party is clearly ahead in the polls, but it may need a coalition partner for a majority. For this, the extreme right-wing Konfederacja is being looked at.
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