Tomaszewski’s candidacy: a positive step or self-promotion?

Waldemar Tomaszewski’s candidacy for the President’s chair proposed by Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL) was a surprise for many. It was rather said that EAPL would focus mostly on the elections to the European Parliament.

“In my opinion, it is a very positive step. I expected it indeed. The other thing is that one case does not interrupt the other. We have representatives of other parties who do the same. I think that everything is alright” said Tadeusz Andrzejewski, Polish well-known journalist and columnist of the Vilnius Region.

Self-promotion and nothing more 

Andrzejewski’s attitude was criticised by Andrzej Pukszto. “I think this is a self-promotion and nothing more, because Tomaszewski’s main goal is a seat in the European Parliament” commented the political scientist and head of Political Science Institute on Vytautas the Great University in Kaunas.

According to Pukszto, it would be more sensible to support one of the Lithuanian parties’ candidates. “Concerning the case in a wider sense, I would say that this is somehow egoistic attitude, because profits for Polish community would be greater if EAPL have supported one of the Lithuanian candidates for President. By this way, EAPL would get its divvy among Lithuanian politicians. For the time being, I consider it a marketing hook and a promotion on the run-up to the European Parliament”, the scientist highlighted.

He has a point 

Andrzejewski does not agree with Pukszto. “Such a question always crops up before presidential elections. In a way such approach is correct. Practice of the last election indicated that there is a point in such efforts”, the columnist noticed.

The decision about participation in the electoral campaign was made on Wednesday during the party’s meeting. Officially it is to be confirmed during the conference on Monday. “Waldemar Tomaszewski as a leader of the group is an example of such an honest politics that is so necessary in Lithuania today” – EAPL stated.

Tomaszewski was at the forth position in 2009’s election, outruning such candidates as Kazimiera Prunskienė, Loreta Graužinienė, Česlovas Jezerskas.

The presidential election in Lithuania will be held on 11 May.

Source: http://zw.lt/opinie/kandydatura-tomaszewskiego-pozytywny-krok-czy-samoreklama/

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