„Basic human decency” should stop Poles from voting in a presidential election scheduled for May 10, Donald Tusk, the leader of the centre-right European People’s Party and former Polish prime minister, said on Tuesday (April 28). In a video posted on Twitter, Tusk said he thought PiS could be persuaded to work on an alternative election plan that would be „safe and fundamentally fair,” adding that he would not cast his vote.
Polish voters should boycott a presidential election set for May 10 out of „basic human decency” because of the new coronavirus pandemic, Donald Tusk, leader of the centre-right European People’s Party and a former prime minister, said on Tuesday.
Tusk said a government plan to hold the vote via a postal ballot was insufficient to mitigate safety concerns in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and accused the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) of subverting the constitution.
The election has become highly divisive in Poland, with the PiS insisting it go ahead on schedule despite a mounting number of deaths from the highly contagious COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Opinion polls show fewer than 30% of Poles are likely to cast ballots if the vote is held on May 10 as scheduled.
„Basic human decency does not allow us to participate in what is being proposed,” Tusk said in a video posted on Twitter, adding that he would not cast his vote.
„If you don’t know how to act, be decent,” he said, citing the late anti-communist activist, Władysław Bartoszewski, who is seen as a leading moral authority by many Poles.
Tusk said he thought PiS could be persuaded to work on an alternative election plan that would be „safe and fundamentally fair”.
Poland currently has 12,089 confirmed coronavirus cases and 570 deaths. Schools and most shops are shut, Poles must wear face masks outside and the country’s borders are closed as part of a lockdown designed to halt the spread of the virus.
source: tvn24.pl
