Second Chance for Tusk
The 2011 Parliamentary Election in Poland
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The results of the Polish parliamentary election on 9 October 2011 point forwards. A majority of Polish society would like to live in a modern country whose influence in Europe is on the rise. Donald Tusk and the Civic Platform are considered the most important guarantors to this end. But many Poles voted for Tusk only because they wanted to keep Jarosław Kaczyński’s national conservative, euro-sceptic party Law and Justice from returning to power. The surprise was the success of the libertarian, anti-clerical Palikot movement, which attracted mainly young voters. Tusk must use his second chance to show a greater ability to deliver reform than in his first term.
(Osteuropa 11/2011, pp. 27–42)