How Poland is preparing for new clash between Tusk and Kaczyński.

Poland is going through another election campaign. This time, these are the local elections.

The elections are set to be held in two rounds. On 7 April, Poles will vote for MPs of gminas, counties, cities, voivodeship sejmiks and mayors. The second round is scheduled for 21 April in case of no result in the first one in some areas.

Read more about the clash between the two main political camps in Poland ahead of the local elections in an article by Michał Kacewicz, a Biełsat journalist – Tusk vs Kaczyński, Volume 2. The importance of the local elections in Poland.

Local government, in theory, should be far from big politics and party rivalry, but in reality, local elections are part of the general electoral cycle.

In October 2023, the opposition Civil Coalition, Third Way, and New Left won the parliamentary elections. Donald Tusk's government was formed, changing the Law and Justice Party (PiS) after eight years in power.

The European Parliament election is scheduled to be held this year in addition to elections to local self-government bodies. The current electoral cycle will end with the presidential elections in 2025.

The ruling center-left coalition has every chance to strengthen its influence on local self-government.

The Sejm is of utmost importance in Poland, as its majority forms the government. But for any serious party, power in local self-government bodies is also crucial because it could make a real change close to the people.

Now, when Poland has received the first tranche of EU funding, frozen because of the previous government's flaunting of EU standards on rule of law in 2021 (137 billion euros), local authorities will have the money to build and modernise their cities, towns and villages.

Today, most forecasts indicate that the parties of the ruling coalition led by Tusk and the opposition right-wing group (the Law and Justice Party led by Jarosław Kaczyński) tie each other.

Both of these groups also have their own internal challenges.

There is a sharp conflict within the ruling coalition over abortion.

Although local self-government does not have anything to do with it, it will affect the elections.

PiS has its own internal conflicts, however, that affect the former ruling party.

PiS coalition partner, Patryk Jaki from the Sovereign Poland party, has sharply criticised former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and accused him of excessive subservience to the European Union.

The Kaczyński camp has responded also harsh to his criticism.

PiS activists are afraid of losing thousands of seats following the local elections.

The party has the best chances of staying in power only in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. On the other hand, in major cities: Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Lodz, Lublin, and others, PiS has very low chances of winning mayors.

The post-election landscape of Poland will be part of the general major change trend: Law and Justice loses power, while the center-left coalition regains its positions.

The end of the political campaign gives us hope for a tension reduction, increasing the chances of reaching a compromise in the current trade disputes with Ukraine.