Bronislaw Komorowski took a last minute decision to take part in the presidential debate on TVP public television, Sunday night, making it a four-way battle between himself and candidates of the other three parliamentary parties.
Earlier, Komorowski’s campaign team (Civic Platform) said that their candidate would not be appearing in the debate unless all ten candidates in the June 20 election took part, or it was a straight head-to-head with Jaroslaw Kaczynski (Law and Justice).
In the event he turned up to debate with the late Lech Kaczynski’s twin brother, Waldemar Pawlak (Polish Peasant‘s Party) and Grzegorz Napieralski (Democratic Left Alliance).
The rules of the US-style TV debate included one minute to make their policies clear on a number of key issues, including foreign affairs, economy, energy security, and social issues such as IVF treatment
.
Observers commented on the stilted nature of the debate, which confined candidates to making one minute statement, with little interaction between them.
Political scientist, Dr. Olgierd Annusewicz from Warsaw University told Polish Radio that candidates rarely tried to debate each other, apart from an occasional confrontation between Komorowski and Napieralski.
Annusewicz said that nothing remarkable happened during the debate and it will have a negligible effect on the way voters choose their candidate.
The two to benefit could be Napieralski and Pawlak, who got equal time in the spotlight with the two leading candidates.
Napieralski gains
Meanwhile, the latest opinion poll by the Homo Homini institute for Polish Radio - taken before the debate Sunday night - shows a rise in support for Grzegorz Napieralski at 10.5 percent, up 4.4. Bronislaw Komorowski would receive 41.3 percent, down 5.2 percent with Jaroslaw Kaczynski up slightly on 32.7 percent.
Another poll by GfK Polonia confirms a rise in support for Napieralski, gaining four percentage points since a week ago with support now on 11 percent, best showing yet in a survey. The poll confirms a small shirt away from Komorowski, who is now on 42 percent, down five.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski was also down four, on 29 percent - Waldemar Pawlak was on four percent.
The poll was conducted over the telephone on 9-10 in June from a sample of 1000 people. (pg)
For comprehensive coverage of the presidential election campaign check out our special Poland Decides election web pages.
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