Law and Justice (PiS) candidates for the European Parliament blame the party’s poor performance in the ballot, Sunday, on spin doctors in charge of their election campaign.

Law and Justice came a poor second to the Civic Platform party in the European parliamentary elections on June 7, securing just 27 percent, 17 points behind the winners.

Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro – who led Law and Justice to a strong victory in Krakow, says: “Maybe those responsible for communication [during the Law and Justice campaign] should reflect on their activity and resign,.”

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of Law and Justice, admitted there was conflict within the party but advised to wipe the slate clean, forget about disagreements and carry on. 

“It was one of the worst and most self-centred election campaigns I have ever taken part in,” said Jolanta Szczypinska, who ran for the European Parliament and was third on the electoral roll in the northern region of Pomerania. When the party’s own private  pre-election polls showed that Szczypinska might beat Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, of the same party, who ran with the first position on the list, Szczypinska – a relatively high media profile politician -  was asked by Law and Justice headquarters not to organize any more press conferences. 

Other Law and Justice MPs confirmed that the party’s spin doctors were manipulating the electoral campaign in favour of some candidates and against others. When the directors of the campaign noticed someone could pose a threat to those at the top of the electoral list on the party’s ballot paper, they refused to grant them more money for the campaign, forbid them to take part in political debates, organize press conferences or broadcast campaign films.  

 “Those who endangered candidates anointed by Law and Justice  headquarters were stabbed in the back,” agrees Tomasz Gorski, the Law and Justice candidate from the western city of Poznan. (mg/pcg)

Source: Rzeczpospolita