Don't worry, this isn't a political analysis post about the Polish general election that just finished this weekend. I know nothing about Polish politics, in fact I didn't even know there was a general election until the week before I was due to be in Poland. This post is about a few random thoughts and observations inspired by the election.
In the week prior to the election I was in Warsaw. Everything seemed pretty normal and quiet and I couldn't see much canvassing going on. There were some random candidates` posters around but you wouldn't notice them unless you're a voter (or maybe some voters don't even care). By contrast, in some countries, I've seen posters and banners all over the city every ten steps in the week coming up to the general election. In Taiwan, you'd think it's a carnival. The pre election vibe in Poland seemed so calm.
One afternoon in Warsaw, I was by the monument that commemorate the victims of the Smolensk Tragedy. (In 2010 a Polish plane crashed in Smolensk in Russia killing all 96 on board. The dead included the Polish President at that time Lech Kaczynski and his wife, and many senior government and military officials and politicians.) Suddenly, I saw a group of people run towards the monument. It was a group of protesters.
A few held a big banner and stood by the monument. Others ran towards the monument, and stuck leaflets on it. I notice the protesters were all quite middle aged, very different from the young activists we often see in UK such as Stop the Oil who go round disrupting innocent people's daily lifes.
Within minutes the police came out of nowhere and lined themselves in front of the monument. They protesters still tried to stick the leaflets onto the monument but it became a little more difficult with the police in the way.
I have to stress, at no time did the police use any force or try to fend off the protestors. They just stood there guarding the monument.
I didn't know what the protest was about so sent an image to my trusted Polish friend aka The Wizard who told me they were protesting against the current government.
The anti government protest reminded me of that in Hong Kong from 2019. An uprising movement that pretty much bought the city to a standstill for months, till the authorities used all means to silence citizens and throw people in jail just because they could.
In fact just before the protest happened here, I was looking at an exhibition called Home. You can see the exhibits on display on the right hand side of the image below.
At that exact moment, I was looking at an entry from Hong Kong, by an anonymous called No Name. He/she can't use his/her real name because just by expressing his/her view, he/she could be prosecuted under the Hong Kong National Security law for criticizing the government. This is what could happen to protesters in Hong Kong, and to the over 1000 political prisoners, many who are still awaiting trial after two years.
A couple of days ago 
That's very different from the UK where only the voters are allowed in the polling station and no photography is allowed. This is to protect voters so they can't be influenced by others to vote for a particular candidate. It is not unheard of, in say Hong Kong who continues to conduct "democratic elections" which they loosely inherited from the British colonial days, where political party agents takes coach loads of geriatrics, often from old peoples home out for a day with dinner on the election days. One of the events of the day is to stop by the polling station. The agents will write the candidates number on the back of the old persons hand and remind them to tick that particular number on the voting sheet. Imagine what would happen if the agents were allowed in the polling station!
At the time of writing, it is confirmed that the current ruling party in Poland PiS has the most votes, but not enough for a majority and is unlikely to be able to form a coalition government with other parties. That means that next largest party, the pro European Civic Coalition led by the previous prime minister Donald Tusk will very likely form a new coalition government. It will be interesting to see where that will take Poland in the next few years. Only good I hope.
By the way, I've been following the news these few days, and everytime I hear the name Donald Tusk, I think I hear Donald Trump. Wouldn't that be a disaster if history repeats itself in the American election next year (I make no apologies to any of my American friends who happens to be Republican 🙃).
Talking of general elections, it seems it will be a busy year in 2024. Of course, the one closest to my heart is that in Taiwan on 13th January. The successful future of Taiwan hinges on the incumbent DPP staying in Power. The current President Tsai Ing-Wen has served her two terms already and I think there are good succession plans in place to secure a third term for the party. All we need is for the nation to be mindful of the consequences should the pro China KMT win. I know there are still some in Taiwan who can't see the danger looming ahead should that happen.
This post has gone on a little longer than expected, and I've probably pissed off a few people on the way. Oh well! That's how free speech works and I can't always please everyone 😉
Have a great day everyone!