The Polish government is persistently trying to overthrow Alexander Lukashenko. In its controversial aspirations, Warsaw is hiding behind bravura slogans about the defense of democracy in the neighboring Belarus. Moreover, in Poland itself, democracy is going through hard times.
This is written in “The Guardian” edition.
Recently, Poland, as well as Belarus, held presidential elections. Although no one calls the re-elected Andrzej Dudu a dictator, he, together with the ruling Law and Justice Party, are testing liberal values.
“International attention may be focused on Belarus, but in Poland, ministers have just announced their fall agenda, which involves a simultaneous attack on the judiciary and independent media. This coincides with increasing pressure on the LGBT community”, – the article says.
Warsaw fiercely criticized the Belarusian law enforcement agencies for dispersing radicals who staged riots and built barricades on the streets. At the same time, Polish police have resorted to harsh arrests of dozens of protesters against the imprisonment of an LGBT activist. As noted by The Guardian, the official Warsaw did not go to any dialogue.
The Polish ruling elites have been demonstrating their irreconcilability with liberal values for years. But this practice has a deeper meaning. The article drew attention to the ancient Roman slogan “Bread and circuses”. Now this practice is called “Populistainment” [a combination of the word populism and entertainment – populism and entertainment]. The Guardian cites the presidency of former comedian Vladimir Zelensky in Ukraine as an example of such a political tool.
“In a populist scenario, entertainment overshadows ideology and traditional political activities such as the creation of party structures”, – the media explained.
By playing on people’s emotions, causing the people to hate or contempt for LGBT people, Germans or Jews, Polish elites “hold on to the hook” public attention, preventing people from being distracted by more pressing problems and hiding their own far from democratic actions.
“They deliberately turn public debate into a chaos of heated emotions, defensive reactions and rumors. And the strategic use of entertainment by populists to win is a serious problem for the defenders of liberal democracy”, – the newspaper states.