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The Warsaw Voice » Politics » August 21, 2015

Polish President proposes second referendum

August 21, 2015

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Polish President Andrzej Duda

Newly elected Polish President Andrzej Duda will press the Senate to conduct a national referendum on Oct. 25 together with the autumn general elections, Duda said in a televised address to the nation.

"The voice of the nation must be heard," Duda said. Poles will be asked to vote on school age, retirement age and the future of the National Forest Service.

A recent move to start school at age six led to "numerous controversies," a hiking and unifying of retirement age at 67 had raised "many doubts" and the National Forests are "one of the last unprivatized national resources," Duda said in justifying his decision.

Duda justified his decision to slate the would-be national referendum on the same day as national elections, with reference to the reduced costs.

Duda said he would not revoke the September 6 national referendum called by his predecessor Bronislaw Komorowski. That referendum will consider single-seat voting districts, party financing and tax collection principle.

Poland's Senate, controlled by the governing party Civic Platform (PO), must approve the motion for a referendum for the vote to come to pass.

The issue dominated local newsflow Thursday as the referendum question on retirement age, a key Duda campaign promise, begins to anchor the campaign of the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), from which Duda hails. PiS leadership laid the groundwork Thursday to portray PO as a force blocking the popular will on the issue.

During its eight years in power, PO moved to unify retirement ages for men and women at 67, versus 65 for men and 60 for women today. PO also phased in a requirement that children start elementary school one year earlier at age six.

A referendum on the same day as the parliamentary elections “will be significantly cheaper than one held at a different date,” Duda said in a televised address. “It will let us know the will of Poles and will show the direction of changes society expects.”

The PO-led government increased the retirement age to 67 years in 2012 to ward off a looming budget crunch amid a demographic crisis. PiS has made reversing the law, which according to business lobby group Pracodawcy PR would cost the budget 71.4 billion zloty ($19 billion) through 2020, a cornerstone of its election campaign.
PiS seek to lower the retirement age by seven years for women and by two years for men.

Besides the retirement question, Duda also proposed asking Poles whether they want to reverse the government’s decision to reduce the school age to six from seven as well as whether the country should ban the sale of state-owned forests.

Poland also faces a referendum on the country’s voting system on Sept. 6, which was called by Duda’s predecessor Bronislaw Komorowski before he lost his re-election bid in May.