It was a match of Law and Justice against the rest of the world. Anyway, if we look at the results in view of next year’s parliamentary elections, we have reason to be very optimistic. 34% support in the elections to the provincial assemblies would translate into more than 42% of votes in parliamentary elections; so the chances for a majority would be very high

— says Tomasz Poręba, MEP, Law and Justice election campaign manager in an interview with Jacek Karnowski.

During the conversation of Jacek Karnowski with Tomasz Poręba, the question of Law and Justice’s success in this year’s local government elections was raised.

In this campaign we focused strongly on the message related to the credibility of Law and Justice, enriched by the presentation of specific programme proposals, both nationwide and those for the regions […]. We were emphasizing that now is the time to move a good change down the ladder to local governments [….]. In addition, we organised several regional conventions and three large central ones. And that paid off

— concludes Tomasz Poręba.

Tomasz Poręba also stresses that in the elections to the regional assembly, Law and Justice broke the 1998 Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) record. The MEP also points to the difficult conditions that Law and Justice had to face:

One of our goals was to upburst our party, both in terms of the activity of structures and the support of voters at the national level. We fought in difficult conditions, because actually everyone was against us. It was a match of Law and Justice against the rest of the world […]. Anyway, if we look at the results in view of next year’s parliamentary elections, we have reason to be very optimistic […]. I have no illusions and I am perfectly aware of the fact that this campaign will be difficult as hell. It is important that thanks to the result of local government elections we have capital on which we can build.

Tomasz Poręba also stresses that the conclusions should be drawn from the Law and Justice result obtained in large cities:

One shouldn’t get discouraged. We must present our actions and development plans. With regard to this group, we must be as substantive as possible. I am aware that these people do not vote for Law and Justice because, for example, they do not like our programme. In fact they do not vote for us, because they dwell a deeply coded aversion towards Law and Justice.

The MEP also commented on the loud issue of eavesdropping scandal:

Poręba also discusses the methods used by the opposition during the campaign:

We were attacked with false information, manipulations, a no-holds-barred approach [….]. We have to be prepared for this, because the other side is struggling for life, for survival, so there is probably nothing they won’t do. We must be able to respond to this, including social media. But we must also remember that we cannot fight old battles. Every campaign is different; every campaign requires a flexible approach. It was a pre-planned action to strike at the credibility of the leaders of Law and Justice. Prime Minister Morawiecki’s activities in the fight against the grey market, VAT and fuel mafias resulted in enormous successes and revenues to the budget, but also anger of those who had been robbing Poland and Poles during the years of the Civic Platform governance. When our rivals realized that Morawiecki was also very active in our campaign, they were looking for something that would undermine the Poles’ confidence in the head of government. That’s why the overdue tapes were pulled out and they tried to publicize them as much as possible.

An interview with Tomasz Poręba, Law and Justice election campaign manager is published in the latest issue of the weekly „Sieci”.