Democracy Digest: Political Chaos Leaves Poles in the Dark

Polish Election Antics Show 'Collapse of Democracy'

Pandemic Boosts Support for Europe's Autocrats

On Tuesday, the Sejm, Poland's more powerful lower house of parliament, passed legislation altering the way the election will be organised. Only days earlier, lawmakers had approved a bill for a postal vote, but this time they opted to give voters a choice: either cast ballots in person or request their papers to be sent by mail.

The new legislation stipulates that the Marshall of the Sejm will decide the date of the election. The smart money is now on June 28. The Senate upper house has yet to vote on the law. 

A view of a mobile phone screen showing Polish President Andrzej Duda during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, 14 May 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/MATEUSZ MAREK

But what about the pandemic?

Last week, most opposition lawmakers were up in arms about the dangers of holding an election during the coronavirus crisis, even if by postal vote. But on Tuesday, some abstained, allowing the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to pass its bill.

But is the epidemiological outlook really so different that it will be safe for voters to rock up at polling stations in just over a month? No one knows.

Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski said on Thursday that the virus's reproduction rate was less than one. ("Zero point ninety-something," was the phrase he used; the government has never made the precise value public.)

Zero point ninety-something.

- Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski, on the COVID-19 reproduction rate

Indicating the average number of people whom someone with the virus is likely to infect, the "R number" is a key gauge used to determine whether a country is ready to relax measures to...

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