Poland: to push citizens to the polls, the government offers fire trucks

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In Poland, one week before the first round of presidential elections, the gap is narrowing between the outgoing conservative president, favorite for his re-election, and his main liberal competitor, the mayor of Warsaw. To make a difference, the government uses all means to convince voters to vote, and if possible for the head of state.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Warsaw, Thomas Giraudeau

In the first round of the presidential election , Andrzej Duda, the outgoing president, is 10 points ahead of his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski, according to polls. But in the second round, the two men would be neck and neck.

The authorities know it, the key to the ballot is in the countryside and the small towns of less than 20 000 inhabitants: peripheral zones where the conservative in power and Andrzej Duda built their recent victories. It is in these areas that the conservative ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) obtained its best scores, more than 50% of the votes in the legislative elections last year.

Opposition denounces political maneuver

So he wants to push these voters to the maximum to the polls, even if it means using public resources. With "  Bitwa o wozy  " (the battle for vehicles), the Interior Ministry decided to offer a brand new fire truck to 16 small towns - one per region - where the turnout for the presidential election will be the higher.

To justify themselves, the executive believes that these small towns often do not have the means to buy such equipment, nor to organize campaigns to encourage their inhabitants to go to vote. For their part, the opposition and commentators see this offer as a political maneuver. The former head of the Election Commission speaks of "  inappropriate action  ". For his part, the former Socialist Prime Minister, Marek Belka, denounces the fact that a vehicle that saves lives is used for political purposes.

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• Poland
• Andrzej Duda

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