Poland election: Poles prepare to vote as rivals end acrimonious campaign

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News Article :-
Poland elects a new parliament this weekend after a bitterly fought campaign that has seen each side paint the other аs a dire, national threat.

The governing, right-wing Law and Justice party, or PiS, is battling to secure a record third term in office.

It says the opposition would weaken Poland with mass migration and chaos.

The centrist main opposition Civic Coalition wants to end eight years of PiS rule, arguing that the party is a threat to Polish democracy itself.

Both campaigns have been highly personalised with each party demonising the other's leader.
But with opinion polls suggesting neither of the main parties is on course for an outright majority, the final days and hours of campaigning have been intense.

All over Poland, lamp-posts and railings are plastered with the images of election candidates.

They offer a choice from the far-right Confederation that wants to cut aid to Ukraine to a left-wing party that talks about LGBT rights and returning the right to abortion.

But this race has mostly focused on two men and two parties: PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Civic Coalition head Donald Tusk.

On Friday, they made their final pitches to voters.

In Starachowice, south of Warsaw, Jaroslaw Kaczynski repeated his mantra that a Poland governed by Donald Tusk would in fact be ruled "by a phone call from Berlin or Moscow".

He has consistently painted his rival as a puppet of both Russia and Germany: the logic doesn't matter as much as the suggestion that Mr Tusk is unpatriotic and a security threat.

Mr Kaczynski pointed to his own party's massive boost in military spending, with both Russia and Ukraine on Poland's border.

Stoking fear about migration is another PiS favourite, including with endless footage on state TV highlighting protests and riots in Europe.

The party leader stressed that PiS would "absolutely reject" an EU relocation plan for illegal migrants.

But he also had a positive message for the final stretch of the campaign.

"We have offered Poles a better life," Mr Kaczynski told voters, mentioning higher wages and pensions. "This election is about whether that will continue."

More from Sarah Rainsford: Vociferous campaign splits Poland ahead of key election

Donald Tusk contends that continuing with PiS would be a disaster.
While Poland has won plaudits for its role supporting Ukraine since the Russian invasion, there's real concern about its commitment to defending key elements of democracy at home.
The EU is withholding large amounts of funding over the politicisation of Poland's courts.
Civic Coalition highlights that issue, as well as increased control of the press and far more antagonism with Europe - trends that it worries will intensify if PiS are re-elected.
Some fear the trajectory is so bad, it could undermine Poland's membership of the EU itself.
On Friday, though, all Donald Tusk's talk was of winning.
"We are one step away from victory," he claimed in