Élections polonaises : un choix difficile pour les jeunes

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  Christiaan Paauwe

  Correspondent Central and Eastern Europe

For young progressive voters in Poland, the choice in the decisive round of the presidential elections on Sunday between conservative nationalist Nawrocki and the liberal mayor Trzaskowski seems to be obvious. But it quickly becomes clear at the University of Warsaw that this is not the case for everyone.

Students and teachers rush under the cast -iron gate. Colleges are about to start. The 24-year-old Robert is folding tents in a courtyard. Since a week he has been occupying a building from the university with dozens of fellow students. One of their heads: more and affordable housing for students.

For Robert, the living crisis is the most important theme. “You can’t live without a house,” he concludes soberly. The cognitive sciences student has enough peers who had to give up their studies because they could not do it financially.

The first round of the elections, Robert therefore voted for a progressive presidential candidate who made the fight against the housing crisis a spearhead. And Sunday? “I have not yet decided if I’m going to vote. It’s a difficult decision.” A history student who walks by calls it “choosing between two fatal diseases”.

In the first round of the presidential election, it became clear that young voters voted for radical-right or very left candidates; Not for the two established parties that have been the service in Poland for twenty years. This ‘duopoly’ of politics arouses more and more resistance, partly because of what young voters have seen on the housing market. It is also significant that one of the larger scandals followed this election campaign after the conservative Nawrocki had lied about having a second apartment during a debate.

For the current government, it is crucial that Trzaskowski wins so that they have a president from their own camp and can implement reforms. In the meantime, the mayor of Warsaw makes several promises to win left -wing voters. Without that group it will be very difficult for him to win, that is certain. For example, at a campaign meeting on Thursday, Trzaskowski promised to ensure that municipalities expand the range of social rent and cheap homes on a large scale.

But because of his own track record As mayor, Trzaskowski cannot count on much trust, concludes sociologist Janek Spiewak. He has been taking action against abuses in the housing market for years and wrote a book about ‘pathological developers’, which often build small, expensive poor quality apartments and get away with it.

Under Trzaskowski, a lot of social rent was privatized in the city, so that people were on the street, says Spiewak. On the wide Maszalkowska street in the center he points to a dilapidated corner building with graffiti on the walls. It is now empty. “Like this building,” he says. Trzaskowski promised to build new homes with the sale of buildings, but that hardly happened.

In the meantime, Poland saw one of the largest increases in house prices in Europe. The past six years it has doubled in large cities. “Most young people support parties who want to change the status quo,” says Spiewak. “They radicalize because their necessities are not met.”

Also 23-year-old David cannot accept the idea of ​​a voice for Trzaskowski, mainly because of his responsibility in the living crisis. No, the conservative candidate certainly does not find David a good option. The student also takes action for LGBTI and abortion rights, and they will certainly not get better under Nawrocki.

“But social issues are just as important to me,” says David. “I don’t come from a rich family, and I know what it’s like to be poor.” Like many peers, he is very worried about the living crisis and hardly completes the high prices.

Although most poles at the university tend to vote for Trzaskowski. A 35-year-old teacher would rather have another candidate, but “wants Poland to remain as democratic as possible and that we respect human rights”.

A history promenus says that the choice stinks, but that he will vote “with a pinched nose”. And David? As it says now, he will vote blank on Sunday.