WARSAW. If the ruling Law and Justice party in Poland gets a third term in Sunday’s elections, it will lead to fascism and totalitarianism. The line of the current Polish government can also lead to the country withdrawing from international cooperation.
This is what the award-winning film director thinks Agnieszka Holland. He is known for films that deal with the greatest crimes of humanity, such as the Holocaust or the Holodomor genocide in Ukraine.
– The Polish government has an irrational agenda based on lies. We are on the path to self-destruction if Law and Justice is allowed to dominate the third season, says Holland.
– Now Poland is some kind of hybrid democracy, but after the third season it is no longer a democracy at all. They [Laki ja oikeus -puolue] for example, would probably cut ties with the EU completely.
The government’s eye stick
Holland gave the interview to remotely from his home in France, where he traveled during the elections “to let the situation in Poland calm down”.
By the situation, Holland means that his film Zielona Granica, or Green Border, which premiered in September, has raised a storm of emotions in Poland.
The film has been the most watched film in Poland for three weeks. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in September.
The Green Border is a fictional account of the border between Poland and Belarus, but it is based on facts. The border situation has been kept quiet in Poland until now.
The film depicts the life of migrants in very harsh conditions. The actions of the Polish border guards are presented as brutal and inhumane.
More on the subject: Dozens if not hundreds of people have died at the Polish border, but the state-controlled media is silent about the situation.
The film enraged the country’s government. The director was blamed at the ministerial level of treason and deliberately tarnishing Poland’s reputation. According to Holland, Kohu even acquired absurd features.
– I was accused, for example, of insulting the Polish uniform. What does that even mean?
The situation became dangerous when Holland began to be threatened while he was traveling around Poland presenting his film and answering people’s questions. He had to move with security guards.
The government may have overshot this time. Some people took Holland’s side because of the angry reaction of the politicians. At least it boosted the movie’s popularity.
– I received messages from the audience that even if they do not agree with me, the ministers should not act so badly.
Television shapes opinions
Holland estimates that the change has already started in Poland. According to him, the people are getting tired of the autocratic, truth-distorting and staunchly conservative government, and want a change.
It can also be seen in the polls: The popularity of the Law and Justice party has decreased since the last election. Opposition to the abortion ban imposed by the government is increasing and, according to opinion polls, sexual and gender minorities are understood more than before.
During its two reigns, Law and Justice has, among other things, taken control of the country’s public broadcasting company and politicized the judiciary. Some of the people only see the government’s propaganda channels on their television.
The channels aggressively attack the opposition. For example, the murder of the mayor of Gdansk a few years ago was preceded by a smear campaign on a television channel.
– When you talk to people outside of Warsaw, you notice that they use exactly the same claims as what they hear on TV, says Holland.
The EU is also concerned about the state of the rule of law in Poland. The Commission has withheld from Poland more than 35 billion euros in recovery subsidies, which the government would like to use to build high-speed train connections and digital networks.
“Refugees are an important tool for the government”
Immigration and refugees are key in the support of the nationalist and authoritarian Law and Justice party.
– Refugees are a very important tool for populist dreamers to gain power. Foreigners are dehumanized and claimed to be anything. It appeals to people’s anti-immigration fears very effectively, says Holland.
The party’s rise to power was also supported by the mistakes made by the previous Polish government.
– It made an overly neoliberal economic policy and did not consider people’s social needs, says Holland.
The prime minister of the previous Polish government was the current opposition leader Donald Tusk. His government has been accused in Poland of playing into the pocket of big companies, among other things.
According to Holland, it was easy for the new government to appeal to people who felt left out during Tusk.
– Law and justice very quickly divided the country into two different camps. Refugees and immigrants began to be blamed and stigmatized just like in Hungary.
Member of Parliament of the largest opposition party, the right-wing liberal and pro-EU Citizens’ Forum Aleksandra Gajewska signs Holland’s claim that Law and Justice would take Poland in an even more undemocratic direction in the third term.
If Law and Justice wins, after four years, in Gajewska’s opinion, there will no longer be an election that the opposition could win.
Gajewska is one of the main candidates of the Civic Forum in Warsaw.
– They have secret tactics. First one slice is cut, then another, then a third… Then one morning we wake up to the fact that there is no more democracy. We know what happened in Hungary, and we are on the same path, says Gajewska.
Votes with money
According to Gajewska, Law and Justice has used taxpayers’ money to buy citizens’ votes.
During the election, the party announced that the government would increase the additional support distributed to families from 500 zlotys (about 120 euros) to 800 zlotys. It has offered rural people picnicsfor which, according to the reports of the Citizens’ Forum, 900 million zlotys of public money has been spent.
In addition, the government promises to reward municipalities with the highest turnout. The contest concerns only some small towns – where the Law and Justice party is often voted for.
Gajewska has a 4-year-old son. He says that he is also involved in politics because of his son.
– I don’t want him to go to a school where ideology is taught. I want him to grow up in a fact-based and democratically managed safe country, where he can decide his own life.
“Women are afraid of getting pregnant”
Poland is at a turning point on Sunday, also says the executive director of the Federa women’s network Antonina Lewandowska. There are several feminist movements in Poland, and Federa is the oldest of them.
Now Federa focuses on helping women who are interested in contraception or who want an abortion. Abortion is practically prohibited in Poland. You can go to jail for abortion.
– It is a nightmare to be a woman in Poland. Women die in hospitals from pregnancy complications. It’s torture, says Lewandowska.
According to him, Polish women’s desire to have children has also decreased due to strict laws.
– If something goes wrong during pregnancy, they still have to give birth, so young women are afraid of getting pregnant, Lewandowska says.
Women do not get contraception freely
Only one in two of Polish women under 40 voted in the last election. That is why young women play a key role. Lewandowska hopes that they will go to the polls on Sunday more lively than before, because it can help the opposition.
MP Gajewska signs Lewandowska’s description of the “nightmare” situation of Polish women.
– My friend got pregnant. She had hoped for a child, but now she said she was very scared. What if the pregnancy doesn’t go well? I got chills, says Gajewska.
Women also cannot get birth control without a prescription.
– Men can buy condoms anywhere. We have to go through the doctor. So what, why? I have no words.
– If you are a woman, Poland is not the right place to live, Gajewska says.