‘The same faces, swapping places': Polish candidates aim to break two-party hold on power
Hidden off a charming market square in central Poland, a bar offers the closest physical experience to walking into the internet.
Stretching incongruously through medieval basements, Pub Mentzen in Toruń feels like it was designed by someone on a full-fat diet of online politics. As you enter, a gallery wall displays mugshots of 'customers we don't serve', but instead of rowdy patrons, it features Polish political leaders, including at least five prime ministers.
The wall presents a surreal indictment of the country's political elite. There is a 'meme museum', a blown-up, fake 'gazillion złoty' banknote with the face of a former prime minister, and a gold-plated figure of that leader with a begging bowl. In the toilets, you listen to Donald Tusk speaking German and bizarre speeches by other Polish politicians.
The pub could be dismissed as eccentric if it wasn't owned by Sławomir Mentzen, the tax adviser turned politician of the libertarian far-right Konfederacja (Confederation) party that has been tipped to come third in this Sunday's presidential election in Europe's sixth-largest economy.
And it is not just a commercial enterprise, but an expression of his politics.
About 400 people gathered in the rain as Mentzen, 38, came to his home town to deliver a shotgun pitch covering taxes, political elites, public services, EU regulations, immigration, green policies, and the general state of the world.
He first rose to notoriety in 2019, presenting 'the Mentzen five': 'We don't want Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxes and the EU.' He has since distanced himself from that list, but remains on the far-right end of the spectrum. Emboldened by Donald Trump, he seeks to turn his unfiltered language, such as in his criticism of Ukrainians in Poland, into political strength.
Related: Runoffs, reruns and rightwingers: Europe prepares for electoral 'super Sunday'
His rise as the 'common sense' candidate – capturing the discontent among younger male voters, and with 1.6 million followers on TikTok – allowed him to briefly challenge the mainstream conservative candidate, Karol Nawrocki, for second place in polls. Recent comments on abortion and tuition fees reversed most of his gains, but in the weeks leading up to the vote he was on course to secure a double-digit vote share.
In a well-rehearsed speech – Mentzen completed 348 rallies, visiting all of the country's powiaty (counties) – he raged against 20 years of the duopoly between the country's two main parties: Donald Tusk's centrist Civic Platform (PO) and Jarosław Kaczyński's populist-nationalist Law and Justice (PiS), which have dominated the country's politics since 2005. In this election, they have the two frontrunners once again, in the centrist mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, and Nawrocki.
'For God's sake, how long can we wait for something to change?' Grzegorz Płaczek, a Konfederacja MP, tells the Guardian. 'It's the same faces, just swapping places.'
This anti-establishment rhetoric strikes a chord. Never before in the country's post-1989 history was the combined vote share of the top two candidates forecast to be as low as this year.
Ben Stanley, a sociologist and political scientist at SWPS University in Warsaw, said: 'PiS is far from detoxifying itself after eight years in power, while PO is seen as responsible for the government's lack of ambition in key areas for younger voters, particularly abortion and housing. That leaves the race more open to others.'
Another challenger hoping to break the duopoly is Adrian Zandberg. Born in Denmark to Polish parents, the 45-year-old is a towering figure – literally, nicknamed 'the Mighty Dane' – with a booming voice and hard-left socialist views.
In the last parliamentary election in 2023, his party, Razem (Together), ran as part of the coalition against PiS but declined to join the government because it didn't feel it was offered the tools to meet its promises to voters.
Now 'outside the tent pissing in', he, too, has become a brutal reviewer of 'two 70-year-old men' he says are stuck in disputes irrelevant to younger voters.
Addressing about 800 people near Warsaw University on Wednesday, he focused on immediate challenges facing his audience, such as housing and healthcare, as well as Poland's long-term ambitions.
He spoke in an urgent, angry tone – the crowd shouted 'disgrace' as he rhetorically asked them about the track record of previous administrations – and urged voters to back a Poland 'made of nuclear power, silicon and steel, and not of plywood'.
He resists one label that captures his views, having recently said: 'I am less interested in the word 'the left', more in pro-social and libertarian change.'
Aleks Szczerbiak, a professor of politics at the University of Sussex, says: 'For this 'stuff-them' electorate, a reaction against the duopoly … the ideological profile doesn't really matter that much.'
Zandberg's fellow Razem MP Maciej Konieczny says the left's response to the far right needs to go beyond 'old leftwing aesthetics', adding: 'Younger people may not have settled political opinions, but they can smell bullshit and want [politics] to be about something.
'And we are credible: because we actually refused to play ball.'
Polls published before the country went into electoral silence on Friday night suggested Mentzen and Zandberg would take almost half of all votes from under-35s, streets ahead of the established candidates.
Despite polarised views on migration and abortion, some of their voters even suggested they could see themselves voting for the other candidate, instead of mainstream parties.
Angelika, a 'campaigner on maternity leave', is not surprised when asked about these views at Zandberg's rally.
'The young electorate of Zandberg and Mentzen want largely similar things: to get stability and live a dignified life,' even if their proposed solutions are largely incompatible, she says. 'Instead we get this ping-pong from PO and PiS.'
The two candidates could get up to a combined 20% of the vote share on Sunday. That would force the two mainstream candidates who are expected to advance to the runoff to at least consider how to court their supporters.
If they fail to do that, they, too, will end up on the wall at Pub Mentzen. And the 2027 parliamentary election is just two years away, with that anger not going anywhere.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Critics Point Out Glaring Contradiction In Trump's Iran ‘Regime Change' Post
President Donald Trump sparked incredulity on social media Sunday — including from Republicans ― after appearing to call for regime change in Iran. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president wrote: 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' The post stunned critics, especially given that top Trump administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — had earlier dismissed the idea of ousting Iran's leaders. Instead, they had spun U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites as aimed at solely stopping the development of nukes. Conservative attorney George Conway, a vocal critic of Trump, sarcastically summed it up: 'Pretending to be an ignorant and impulsive sociopath by appearing to make shit up as he goes along is just @realDonaldTrump's way of playing 7,822-dimensional chess.' Pretending to be an ignorant and impulsive sociopath by appearing to make shit up as he goes along is just @realDonaldTrump's way of playing 7,822-dimensional chess — George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway3d) June 22, 2025 I swear it was just like 8 hours ago when Pete Hegseth said "This mission was not and has not been about regime change," to reporters at the Pentagon. That's weird. — Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) June 22, 2025 And less than 24 hours ago, Sec. of Defense Pete "Jaeger Bomb" Hegseth specifically stated it was not about regime change. — Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) June 22, 2025 Miga Taco anyone? — Mike Palmer, CFP® (@dfa_advisor) June 23, 2025 Just wondering if my MAGA friends have to change the color of their hats now that Trump is all about Making Iran Great Again. You know he has that Trump Tower Tehran in his head - lots of great business opportunities for Trump Org from a Trump-installed regime! — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 22, 2025 You cannot believe a thing any of them ever say. — Blowhard (@AmeetSampat) June 23, 2025 In other words,no one knows what they are doing — Erica Murdoch (@ericamurdoch) June 22, 2025 VANCE: "Our view has been very clear that we don't want a regime change."HEGSETH: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change."RUBIO: Regime change is "certainly not the goal of what we're working on here."TRUMP: — Megan Cassella (@mmcassella) June 22, 2025 It's like a tariff negotiation but with bunker busting bombs and nuclear holocaust instead of maple syrup. — Mike Madrid (@madrid_mike) June 22, 2025 Kayleigh McEnany's 'Every Dictator' Take On Trump Iran Strike Draws Online Fire CNN Panel Recoils At Conservative Guest's Comment To Friend's Undocumented Wife U.S. Soccer Star Dishes On 'Weird' Oval Office Moment With Trump
Bloomberg
29 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Malaysian PM Anwar's Popularity Rises on Stability and Growth
Support for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rose as he crossed the midpoint of his five-year term amid political stability. The premier's approval rating stood at 55% as of May, compared with 54% in December and 50% in November 2023, according to a poll by Merdeka Center. Anwar's government also saw its rating climb to 50% as of May, compared with 40% in June last year.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
President Lee picks South Korea's first civilian defense chief in 64 years
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung nominated a five-term liberal lawmaker as defense minister Monday, breaking with a tradition of appointing retired military generals. The announcement came as several prominent former defense officials, including ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, face high-profile criminal trials over their roles in carrying out martial law last year under then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted on rebellion charges and removed from office.
