Parliament gears up for ideological battles

“A cultural revolt,” headlines Polska The Times alluding to the upcoming ideological battles in therecently electedSejm which opens on November 8. “The game has already begun” with the left-wing Palikot Movement (RP) submitting an official motion urging the Sejm’s speakerto remove the wooden crucifix that hangs in the Polish parliament. “The presence of the cross constitutes a permanent breach of the public authority’s neutrality”, reads the document which met with a swift condemnation from Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the main opposition party – the populist Law and Justice (PiS) - who insisted that “each nation has its own tradition and those who want to eliminate it, in fact want to eliminate the entire nation”.

Other contentious issues likely to stir lively debates in the new parliament, include proposals on legalising unions of gays and lesbians, IVF treatment, liberalisation of abortion law as well as legalisation of marijuana. The “swift tempo of ideological disputes in the Sejm will be imposed by two left wing parties: the Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) and RP competing for the same, left wing electorate,”, explains Polska the Times. In October elections, RP garnered 10% while SLD 8% of the vote.