EAPL goes to the elections as a nationwide party

The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania approved its preliminary electoral list. The president of the EAPL, MEP Waldemar Tomaszewski, is on the top of the list. Currently, the list includes 90 people, most of whom are representatives of the EAPL and the Union of Poles in Lithuania.

The list is not closed yet. The final one will be approved at the pre-election party conference, which is to be held on August 20 in the House of Polish Culture in Vilnius.

‘We choose the candidates in several stages. Now, an intra-party ranking will take place. Later, the Supervisory Board has to express its view, and then the list must be approved by the Governing Council. In the second step, representatives of other Polish organizations, as well as of Belarusian and Russian ones, will join the list. About 20 Lithuanians will be on our list as well’, said Waldemar Tomaszewski. The EAPL leader emphasized that 50 positions is kept for the representatives of other nationalities. ‘If it turned out that there are more places needed, then we are ready to give up 5 or 10. However, preliminary talks don’t suggest a similar situation may occur’, said Tomaszewski.

During the upcoming autumn parliamentary elections, the Electoral Action is going to present itself as a nationwide party, not a national one.  According to Tomaszewski, the EAPL has a lot to offer for ethnic Lithuanians. ‘Our strong points are, first, honest activity. Everyone knows we act honestly. Many ethnic Lithuanians vote for us, because they like our honest policy. Secondly, we pursue a policy of principles. We talk openly about the violations and Lithuanians like it too’, said president of EAPL.

Tomaszewski emphasized that the current government makes the EAPL’s participation in the elections difficult, as evidenced by the latest change of constituencies. However, according to the MEP, it won’t have a major impact on exceeding the 5 percent electoral threshold. ‘The basic problem is that we have no free and equal elections. Political decisions are being made, which is unthinkable in EU countries. This applies not only to the Electoral Action, the Lithuanians are dissatisfied as well. Only we talk about it openly. We can say that – we save the honour of Lithuania’, believes Waldemar Tomaszewski.

It’s known today that, next to Waldemar Tomaszewski, there will be three more members present on the list on behalf of the Electoral Action: Michał Mackiewicz, Jaroslaw Narkiewicz and Leonard Talmont. Maria Rekść, the present mayor of the Vilnius region, Renata Cytacka, the secretary of the Vilniur region, and Jarosław Kamiński – the vice mayor of Vilnius will also candidate for parliament.

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/awpl-idzie-na-wybory-jako-partia-ogolnolitewska.d?id=59190789

Tłumaczenie Ewelina Zarembska w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Ewelina Zarembska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.