The continuing floods which have affected southern Poland may force the state authorities to postpone presidential elections scheduled for 20 June.

Floods have already become a part of political battle between the two majority political parties – Civic Platform and the Law and Justice. Kaczynski’s party, Law and Justice, has fiercely criticised Civic Platform’s candidate Bronislaw Komorowski for not knowing the Constitution after the acting President said that floods could not affect the electoral calendar.

“Floods usually don’t last longer than a week and it is still a month before the elections. Besides, a state of emergency, even if it is declared, will not refer to the whole country but only to flood-stricken areas,” said Komorowski.

“I guess Komorowski meant a state of emergency due to natural disaster, not just a state of emergency,” said Prof. Marek Chmaj, a constitutional expert, adding that according to the Constitution, even if a state of emergency due to natural disaster is declared in only one region, elections will have to be postponed anyway.

Law and Justice also continued its criticism of Komorowski for visiting the regions affected by the floods. “What did he go there for? As an acting president he cannot do much for people who were affected by floods. It’s clearly a campaign,” said Jaroslaw Zielinski from Law and Justice.

However, Law and Justice’s presidential candidate Jaroslaw Kaczynski also considered meeting with inhabitants of the flooded regions but decided to take care of his ill mother instead.

The opposition party wants the government to confess at the parliament how it deals with the floods. “We want to know what the authorities did to protect Poland against the flood. A report by the Supreme Auditing Chamber (NIK) shows that in 2007-2008, the government did not build necessary flood barriers in the Swietokrzyskie and Malopolskie regions,” said Zielinski. (mg)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza

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