NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

5. Nationalist populism in the Polish and Slovak political discourses (2001–2002)

5.1. Nationalist populism in the Polish political discourse (2001)

5.1.1. Party manifestos The parliamentary elections that took place in September 2001 were distinct from several points of view. The first significant difference was that the list of candidates in the elections was not created at the state, but at the regional level. Although in previous elections the political parties could have created central electoral lists, in the 2001 elections the candidates for particular parties were required to compete in particular electoral regions. The second significant change was an alteration in the method of the distribution of mandates among those candidates who received the highest support in the elections. The Sainte Laguë method of the distribution of mandates was applied for the first time in the Polish history, which in practice meant that electoral success may have brought the political parties a fewer number of mandates than in previous elections. 149 When the election results are taken into account, the most significant change was the defeat of the “Solidarity camp”, while the left parties, as well as some newly created subjects, received higher support than was expected. This might be explained by the shift from a symbolic-ideological cleavage to a socio economic one. In fact, the symbolical difference between the post-Solidarity right and the post-communist left was no more crucial for the voters. The theory concerning the stability of the Polish party system, which was supposed to be based on the abovementioned pillars, was seriously challenged after the 2001 elections. Instead of the continuing consolidation of the party system, the elections proved that it was much less stable and consolidated than expected. 150 Due to the changed method of the creation of the candidate lists, the number of political parties competing in all the electoral regions was quite limited. While in 1991, the total number of national election committees reached 27, in 2001 this number was only 9. The analysis brings together the programmes of 149 See Inka Słodkowska (ed.) Wybory 2001. Patie i ich programy. (Warszawa: Istytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, 2001), p. 7. 150 Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, “Polska scena polityczna po wyborach parlamentarnych 2001 roku”, Przyszłość polskiej sceny politycznej po wyborach 2001 . (Warszawa: Instytut spraw publicznych, 2002), pp. 5–11.

59