Donald Tusk, the European People's Party president and former prime minister of Poland, has called on his country to boycott the upcoming presidential election by postal voting, which he believes deprives the nation of the legitimate procedure
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2020) Donald Tusk, the European People's Party president and former prime minister of Poland, has called on his country to boycott the upcoming presidential election by postal voting, which he believes deprives the nation of the legitimate procedure.
The first round of the presidential vote is scheduled for May 10. After the opposition's calls to delay the vote in light of the pandemic, the Polish lower house passed a bill sponsored by the ruling Law and Justice party that would open the way for postal voting. The document has to be debated in the opposition-majority upper house. If rejected, the document will again be sent back to the lower house, which can overcome the upper house's veto by a majority of votes.
"I deliberately avoid the word 'election' ... This situation prepared by the authorities for May 10 has nothing to do with the election," Tusk said in a video address.
According to Tusk, there are at least two reasons to boycott the upcoming vote.
"The first is obvious. This is a security reason ... The second reason is constitutional. These elections will be neither free nor equal. No one will ensure the secrecy of elections. Changes to the electoral law were unconstitutional ... I am absolutely convinced that ordinary human decency does not allow us to participate in this procedure," Tusk added.
Some local authorities in Poland have already announced plans to boycott the upcoming presidential election. Mayors of Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow and other cities have already refused to provide the Poczta Polska state postal service company with data on residents, including personal numbers, postal codes, residential addresses, first Names and surnames. This data is needed for the organization of a postal vote.
