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Kaczynski Concedes Defeat in Polish Election
VOA ^ | 21 October 2007 | VOA news

Posted on 10/21/2007 3:37:04 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is conceding defeat as exit polls give a pro-business party a large lead over his ruling nationalists in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Mr. Kaczynski promised his Law and Order Party will be a strong opposition during the next government.

Civic Platform is a center-right party which has pushed for lower taxes on businesses, a smaller bureaucracy and closer integration into the European economic system. Tusk has said he will seek to withdraw Polish forces from Iraq.

Sunday's election brings to an end two years of conservative rule by Prime Minister Kaczynski and his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski.

They pushed hard for a stronger Polish voice in the European Union, alienating some EU allies. They also opposed various EU regulations, including those on the environment.

Mr. Kaczynski called Sunday's election two years early when the previous government collapsed because of a corruption scandal.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: eu; kaczynski; poland
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1 posted on 10/21/2007 3:37:05 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar

2 posted on 10/21/2007 3:45:20 PM PDT by SIDENET (Hubba Hubba...)
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To: lizol; Grzegorz 246; vox_PL

ping


3 posted on 10/21/2007 3:46:56 PM PDT by darkangel82 (All right! Let's go Tribe!!)
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To: Jet Jaguar

So, the left-wing socialist-types appear to be losing everywhere but Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina...and here.


4 posted on 10/21/2007 3:50:54 PM PDT by daler
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To: Jet Jaguar
It's totally unrelated, but the only other Kaczynski that Americans know of is Theodore Kaczynski. He was a real problem, also.:)
5 posted on 10/21/2007 3:55:49 PM PDT by xJones
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To: Jet Jaguar

I thought the incumbent party was conservative. At least they stand with President Bush in the WOT. What about this party? The pro business part sounds good, but where do they stand on foreighn policy?


6 posted on 10/21/2007 3:59:28 PM PDT by balch3
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To: balch3

The incumbent party was terrific, and made Poland a great ally. A pro-business party doesn’t sound too bad, but if they are pledged to pull out of the war on terror, that isn’t good.


7 posted on 10/21/2007 4:06:26 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: daler
So, the left-wing socialist-types appear to be losing everywhere but Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina...and here.

The Kaczynskis aren't left-wing socialist types. They're super-conservative nationalists. The two leading Polish parties are both conservative, but one (Kaczynski's PiS )is more nationalist while the other (PO) is more focussed on free trade and international markets.

The third largest party in Poland, the Samoobrona RP, is left-leaning on economic issues, but staunchly conservative on social issues.

Truly liberal / left wing parties get somewhere around 15% of the vote in Poland, which makes them politically irrelevant.

8 posted on 10/21/2007 4:13:20 PM PDT by Alter Kaker (Gravitation is a theory, not a fact. It should be approached with an open mind...)
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To: daler
So, the left-wing socialist-types appear to be losing

These guys were not socialists. In Europe Nationalist/Religious parties and Libertarian/Free Market parties are totally separate. The US type of conservative/free market parties tend not to exist there. I am not sure what happened to what was left of the old Communists. In Western Europe there usually are three party groupings: Social Democrats (socialists); Christian Democrats (conservatives); and Liberal Democrats (free marketeers). Interestingly France seems to be moving towards US style party divisions.

9 posted on 10/21/2007 4:15:49 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla (No Covenant with Death: Giuliani Shall Not Pass!)
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To: balch3

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1914337/posts

More here, related thread.


10 posted on 10/21/2007 4:16:26 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (Who would the terrorists vote for?)
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To: balch3
I thought the incumbent party was conservative.

The old problem that words have different meanings in Europe and the US.

European conservatism: Socially conservative, but also statist and bureaucratic.

European liberalism: Classical liberalism, i.e. small government, pro business, pro civil liberties.

What Americans call "liberalism" is called "social liberalism" or "social democracy" in Europe, libertarianism would be called (radical) liberalism there.

Most commentators describe the PiS as national conservatives and the PO as liberal conservatives. From a purely economic standpoint the PiS are social democrats or maybe centrists.
11 posted on 10/21/2007 4:21:12 PM PDT by wolf78 (If the Founding Fathers were alive today they'd vote for Ron Paul!)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Seems like this is the best of both worlds. The Presidency, which matters most for foriegn policy issues, is still in the hands of one of the Kaczynski nationalists. The parliament, which matters most for domestic policy, is in the hands of the pro free market Tusk.

I couldn't think of a better outcome.

12 posted on 10/21/2007 4:55:48 PM PDT by curiosity
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To: Cicero
The incumbent party was terrific, and made Poland a great ally.

It was terrific on keeping good relations with the US, and putting a check on German and French influence in the EU. Thankfully, the old PiS president is staying in power.

On fiscal and economic policy, however, it wasn't so good. PiS is not to far from the US Democratic party in this area. Civic Platform will be a big improvement for domestic economic policy.

Poland's kind of getting the best of both worlds: a nationalist president with a pro-business and pro-free market tax-cutting prime minister.

13 posted on 10/21/2007 5:01:22 PM PDT by curiosity
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To: curiosity

I hope you’re right.


14 posted on 10/21/2007 5:10:33 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero; All

For example - as far as Iraq is concerned - Bogdan Zdrojewski (the future likely Minister of Defense) stated, that Polish troops should be withdrawn in 2009.


15 posted on 10/21/2007 11:37:09 PM PDT by lizol (Liberal - a man with his mind open ... at both ends)
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To: curiosity

Terrific? The K-twins were horrible! For the EU - and Germans in particular - the foreign policy of both of them were a mess. It is a myth that Germany and France run the EU - they simply don´t have that much power. The EU is a common system based on the solidarity of all of its members, meaning that we are supposed to stand together. Like in a family, the various governments have to make compromises to achieve good results. Under der Kazczynski´s, Poland appeared to play the 3-yrs old, crying for sweets and insisting, that it´ll cry as long until it gets the sweets. Imagine how the Prime Minister tried to block the progress made on the EU summit in Brussels in June from Warsaw, while his brother has reached a deal. By threatening to use the veto all the time Poland tried to block the efforts made by all other 26 EU members. I´m relieved that Poland now gets a government, that doesn´t view its biggest neighbour country or the EU as a threat to its national security. The bilateral relations between Poland and Germany have been good between 1989 and 2005, and I´m confident, that we can soon re-establish these good relations.


16 posted on 10/21/2007 11:52:26 PM PDT by Michael81Dus
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To: Jet Jaguar

Pro-business won, eh?


17 posted on 10/22/2007 12:01:41 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Jet Jaguar
Europe Pinglist.

18 posted on 10/22/2007 3:39:02 AM PDT by Jedi Master Pikachu ( What is your take on Acts 15:20 (abstaining from blood) about eating meat? Could you freepmail?)
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To: MoochPooch; Michael81Dus; Vicomte13; az_gila; Experiment 6-2-6; henkster; CT-Freeper; ...

ping.


19 posted on 10/22/2007 3:39:31 AM PDT by Jedi Master Pikachu ( What is your take on Acts 15:20 (abstaining from blood) about eating meat? Could you freepmail?)
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To: xJones
It's totally unrelated, but the only other Kaczynski that Americans know of is Theodore Kaczynski. He was a real problem, also.:)

I went to grade school with a Kaczynski. He was a liar, a thief, and, well... just an overall bad seed.

Just my two cents. `:-D

20 posted on 10/22/2007 3:48:41 AM PDT by Thinkin' Gal
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