It is expected that on Sunday, October 15, Poles will go to the polling stations to elect their parliament. The main fight is between the current ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) and the Civic Platform, led by former European Council President Donald Tusk. Polls show it is likely that no party will get enough votes to form a majority, he writes BBC.

Precisely because the polls do not show any party as a clear winner, the final hours of the election campaign have been tense. While PiS, which has been in power for eight years, wants to extend its mandate at the head of Poland, the opposition wants to end the current government.

Representatives of the PiS party say that if the opposition comes to power, it will weaken Poland through “mass” migration and the “chaos” created.

On the other hand, the Civic Platform claims that the current government is “a threat to Polish democracy.”

Also in the race is the far-right Confederacy party, which, if it eventually enters government in some form, wants Poland to cut aid it offers to Ukraine.

A country governed by “a phone call from Berlin or Moscow”

The election campaign is focused mainly on PiS leader Yaroslav Kaczynski and Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk.

On Friday, in his last speech before the election, Jarosław Kaczyński said that if Tusk’s party comes to power, it will mean that Poland will be governed “by phone call from Berlin or Moscow.”

Furthermore, throughout the PiS campaign, Donald Tusk was portrayed as a puppet of both Russia and Germany, a politician who is not “patriotic”.

“We have given Poles a better life,” said the PiS leader, referring to the increase in salaries and pensions.

“We are one step away from victory”

Donald Tusk said it would be a “disaster” if the PiS government continued to rule Poland.

The European Union cut off part of Poland’s funding due to the politicization of the justice system, which the Civic Platform emphasized during the campaign, and also blamed increased control over the media and anti-European bias. Some even talk about Poland’s exit from the European Union if PiS wins a third mandate.

In his final speech before the election, Tusk said: “We are one step away from victory” and urged party supporters to be vigilant on Sunday against attempts to rig the election.

More than 36 million Poles, including 600,000 abroad, who have registered to vote, are expected at the polling stations – this is a record number, the BBC notes.

In addition to the parliamentary elections, the government also called a national referendum, wanting to involve as many people as possible to vote. Poles will have to say whether they agree with allowing “thousands of illegal immigrants” to enter Poland, as “imposed” by the EU.

Some experts believe that the government called this referendum on election day precisely in order to gather to the polling stations those citizens who would vote for PiS.

What will happen if neither PiS nor Civic Platform has a majority

If PiS does not win enough votes to form a majority, it will likely try to co-rule with Confederation, the far-right party.

The Civic Platform will try, if it does not have a majority, to form an alliance with the Third Way parties, a party made up of three small political parties, the Christian Democrats and the “New Left”.