Poland’s lawmakers approve government plan for divisive referendum on election day

Poland’s lawmakers voted Thursday to confirm that a controversial government-planned referendum on migration will be held alongside key parliamentary elections in October.

One of the questions on the referendum paper will ask voters whether they “support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy.”

Voters will also be asked whether they support the dismantling of a wall recently built along the border with Belarus with the aim of reducing unauthorized migrant arrivals.

In the election for both houses of parliament, scheduled for Oct. 15, the populist governing Law and Justice party is seeking an unprecedented third term.

The Polish and Hungarian governments have vehemently opposed a proposal agreed by EU member states to share out responsibility for migrants entering the bloc without authorization. Member states will either have to take in a proportion of new arrivals or pay into a support fund, at a cost of some 20,000 euros for each migrant.

Poland, which has accommodated about 1.2 million war refugees from Ukraine, may be eligible for reductions.

Critics say the referendum is a campaign ploy by Law and Justice to discredit the opposition. Participation in the referendum is not obligatory, but analysts say campaign debates on the four questions are a way of rallying the public around the populist government’s policies.

The lower house of parliament, or Sejm, which is narrowly dominated by the governing party, voted 234-210 with seven abstentions to officially confirm the referendum.

Two other questions will be on the referendum paper, one on support for the privatization of some of the state-owned companies and the other on a rise in the retirement age.

The opposition is calling for voters to boycott the questions.

The questions target the main opposition party, Civic Platform and its leader, Donald Tusk, seeking to paint them as a threat to the interests of Poles.

The pro-business and pro-EU Civic Platform, which governed from 2007 to 2015, raised the retirement age during its time in power, favored some privatization and signaled a willingness to accept a few thousand refugees before it lost power.

Law and Justice said at at the time that accepting refugees was against Poland’s interests.

As well as disagreements over migration, Law and Justice has long been in conflict with the EU over a perception by the bloc that the Warsaw government has been eroding democratic norms.

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