On Monday, December 21, a press conference was held at the SLD headquarters in Bolesławiec, attended by Jerzy Szmajdziński, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm and candidate for President of the Republic of Poland; Bolesławiec County Deputy Starost Stanisław Chwojnicki; Secretary of the Alliance’s County Council Krystyna Tabor; and Paweł Zieliński, head of Bolesławiec’s Federation of Young Social Democrats.
“I am certain that the next 10 months will convince my fellow citizens that they are not condemned to choose between two right-wing candidates, who are currently the favorites in the election. And that they can support someone else—someone who wants to build on the presidency of Aleksander Kwaśniewski,” the Deputy Marshal said during Monday’s meeting. “During Kwaśniewski’s 10-year presidency, scenes like those now taking place between Donald Tusk and Lech Kaczyński did not occur.”
“My political party governed the country twice. We want to convince voters that we have a program and that we are an alternative to the right,” Jerzy Szmajdziński continued. “Society’s sympathies are changing. However, I think that, seeing the current political stagnation, people remember the governments of the SLD, UP and PSL fondly.”
As the Deputy Marshal himself admits, his advantage in next year’s election is that he does not serve as the party chairman. “Grzegorz Napieralski rightly said that a presidential candidate has the right to hold views different from those of their parent party, does not have to follow party discipline and should have freedom of action,” Szmajdziński stressed. “Seeking compromise and cooperation are part of the way people on the left think and act. Aleksander Kwaśniewski’s presidency was proof of that. It turned out that cohabitation between a left-wing president and a right-wing government is possible.”
The Deputy Marshal spoke about his election campaign as follows: “We are building a social alliance. We will run in the election together with the Labour Union and possibly the Women’s Party. We will be supported by OPZZ and non-governmental organizations. It will be a campaign based on contact with citizens. Polls currently give me little chance of winning the election, but if we act together, we will overcome the polls as well.”
(information ii)