Gawkowski explains the Left’s low result: Our electorate wanted to help the Third Way

In the new Sejm, the Left club will consist of only 26 MPs. This is the second smallest representation in the new term, only Confederation, which has 18 MPs, fared worse. In 2019, the Left managed to introduce 49 people to the Sejm, and the result was 12.56%. was considered a very positive surprise. Now there was also a surprise, only a negative one.

The Left’s lists failed to get into the Sejm, including: Maciej Gdula and Arkadiusz Iwaniak, who are the electoral engines of their districts, and Monika Falej, MP. At Wiejska Street we will not see Paulina Piechna- Więckiewicz, vice-president of the New Left, Dariusz Standerski, member of the management board and director of legislation of the New Left, or Paweł Krutul, one of the most active parliamentarians of the former term. Co-chairman of the Left, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, was also unsure of his place in the Sejm benches almost until the last moment.

The left was outside the Sejm for four years and none of our leading political figures disappeared. It will be the same now. We will have local elections soon – Gawkowski reassures.

The result is unsatisfactory, but there is joy

The Left MP admits that his party worked hard during the campaign and hoped that it would translate into at least a dozen or so percent support.

This result is not absolutely satisfactory, because we were counting on a double-digit result, so it is not what we dreamed of. On the other hand, it is a huge success for the Left, because after 18 years it will join the government– says Krzysztof Gawkowski in an interview with Wprost.

After 18 long years, I would like to remind you of the absence of our party in the Sejm. Despite this result, it is one of the greatest successes in the history of the Left. So it is below our expectations, but it is not a result that fills us with sadness or doubts – adds the head of the Left parliamentary club.

– Representation in the Sejm will be lower, but we have a huge success in the Senate, because we counted on three, maximum four senators, and it turns out that we will have as many as nine from the Left – he emphasizes.

Why did the Left perform worse in the elections than in the polls?

There is no shortage of theories within the Left itself as to why the result, despite good forecasts, was so poor. Leaders remind, among others: an appeal by Donald Tusk and Aleksander Kwaśniewski to support the formation of Szymon Hołownia and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. The biggest fear of the so-called the democratic opposition was that one of the three parties constituting it would not exceed the electoral threshold and would not get into the Sejm, which would give the United Right a third term.

– In my opinion, this low result was mainly due to mobilization, which meant that everyone was convinced that the Left would enter parliament, so they directed their votes to the Third Way to help it. I think that’s where this compilation comes from. I even think that the polarization between PiS and the Civic Platform did not harm us as much as the fact that our people voted for the Third Way. Even at our meetings, they said that they would support them so that they could enter parliament at the final stage. I think that was the most important thing. And it wasn’t even about the program or the idea, but about removing PiS from power. People believed and strongly supported the opposition. They didn’t want Kosiniak, for example, to lose in the competition – explains Krzysztof Gawkowski.

The left will support Donald Tusk

The left looks to the future with optimism and assures that the only coalition that is possible is the one within the democratic opposition. – PiS, not the Left, has nothing to discuss. The Left is a loyal partner of the opposition and will form a government with the Civic Platform and Third Way, and will not participate in any murky dealings with PiS, Gawkowski assures.

He adds that his party will support Donald Tusk’s candidacy for prime minister, if such a candidate appears.

– In my opinion, the party that won the elections against the opposition has the largest share in power and should nominate a candidate for prime minister. This is the most honest and gives the feeling that we are dealing with a fair case. You won the election, you nominate a candidate for prime minister. If it is Donald Tusk, the Left will support his candidacy. Especially since he is the leader of the winning party, emphasizes the chairman of the Left Club.

However, according to Gawkowski, we will have to wait for the election of a democratic prime minister, as well as for the first coalition talks.

– It would be fair if we took the election decisions seriously. It would be fair if the prime minister was chosen by the president from the camp who won 11 million votes, not 7 million votes. But I do not believe that President Andrzej Duda will loyally stand on the side of the winners here. He will remain on the side of PiS, which de facto has a minority in parliament – says Krzysztof Gawkowski – And coalition talks will probably start only next week. No one is in a hurry for now. Everyone is happy that we will manage and there will be changes for the better, that we will live again in a modern, tolerant and European Poland.

KPO primarily

The Left is already preparing a list of issues that will need to be dealt with after the formal takeover of power from the United Right.

– There are many topics, but the most important thing is to bring money from the KPO to Poland, i.e. our money from Brussels, because both the funds from the Reconstruction Fund and the KPO should have been working in Poland a long time ago. This should be one of the first decisions of the new government. Therefore, we will have to quickly repair the justice system that PiS has ruined, sums up Krzysztof Gawkowski.