Poland’s “symmetrists” stand out in a polarised political landscape

By Krzysztof Mularczyk

“Symmetrism” is a term instantly recognisable to followers of Polish politics but unfamiliar to those elsewhere. Indeed, on Wikipedia – always a useful guide to what is general knowledge – the entry for symetryzm exists only in Polish, not in any other language.

The encyclopaedia defines it as an ideological standpoint which assumes that every negative phenomenon associated with one political camp has an equally negative counterpoint on the opposing side.

The term is usually used in a negative sense to criticise those who refuse to take sides and who accept the status quo. The symmetrists defend their position by arguing that they are merely being even handed and independent in their analysis.

For supporters of Poland’s two main political forces – the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) and opposition Civic Platform (PO) – anyone who tries to see any shades of grey in this duel between good and evil is viewed with suspicion and disdain.

PiS supporters frame the conflict in terms of one side defending Poland and the other seeking to abandon its sovereignty and independence. PO supporters frame it as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism.

However, while much of Poland’s media landscape tilts towards PiS or the opposition, there are journalists and commentators – such as Rafał Woś, Grzegorz Sroczyński, Łukasz Warzecha and analysts at the Jagiellonian Club – who refuse to be pigeonholed

Symmetrist agenda?

Are the “symmetrists” just attempting to be even-handed and thorough in their analysis? Or do they have an agenda of their own?

They would argue that it is the former but one can discern the thread of an agenda running through their thinking, even though the individuals concerned take up divergent ideological positions, ranging from left to right.

They tend to view PiS’s election victory in 2015 as having been justified and in many ways desirable, as the previous PO-led liberal administration had run out of steam.

They argue that PO had broken faith with economic liberalism and had failed to progress the agenda of making the state more democratic when it abandoned flat tax reform, effectively nationalized the pension funds, and failed to attempt the constitutional reforms it had proposed, such as removing parliamentary immunity, abolishing the upper-house Senate and introducing single-member constituencies in the lower-house Sejm.

The symmetrists are often critical of PiS in areas such as judicial reforms and the party’s relations with the EU. But they are quick to point out that the previous government began the chaos in the judicial system by electing two constitutional court judges ahead of schedule and claim that it was too pliant in its relations with the EU.

On the economy, however, the symmetrists tend to disagree with each other. The left revisionists such as Rafał Woś and Grzegorz Sroczyński point to the successes of the present government in the tightening of the tax system, efficiently using EU funds, and introducing redistributive and welfare-oriented policies.

Those who are more conservative and libertarian, such as Łukasz Warzecha, are by contrast critical of the stealth taxes, red tape and preferences for state companies which have been the hallmarks of the present government.

Criticism of the opposition

Nevertheless, all symmetrists agree that the opposition’s strategy of street protests and support for EU sanctions against the present government has been a disastrous error.

The 2016 attempt to storm the parliamentary building and the occupation of the Sejm chamber was bad news for the opposition, especially in rural and small-town areas where people tend to frown on demonstrations, as well as what they see as foreign interference inherent in the campaign for the EU to sanction Poland.

In more recent times, the opposition has staked too much on the government failing to cope with the economy whereas in reality PiS has managed the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, inflation and war in Ukraine certainly no worse than its international counterparts.

But the most important failure was the inability of the opposition to admit to the mistakes that they made when in office, such as ignoring the need to ensure a better level of social security and build up Polish capital. If you do not admit you made the mistakes that cost you power, you end up blaming the electorate and implying the voters are wrong.

Currently, any politician on either side of the divide who attempts to say anything constructive about the other party is soon brought to book by his own colleagues.

A classic case was the experience of Rafał Trzaskowski, the opposition’s main candidate for president in the 2020 election. He began his campaign with a bold speech in which he said that PiS had been proved right on its flagship child benefit policy, 500+ (which opposition figures had criticised when it was introduced) and that former President Lech Kaczyński had been right in his view of Russia and the threat it posed to Poland.

Other figures in PO  were outraged and, presumably as a result, Trzaskowski did not repeat his assertion from there on in. Instead, he quickly returned to the trusted pattern of polarisation that his party’s troops found comfortable.

This was perhaps one of the reasons why he turned down a one-on-one debate with President Andrzej Duda on state broadcaster TVP. His fears of the debate being conducted in a biased way were probably well founded, but it was he who was the challenger and behind in the opinion polls, not Duda.

Trzaskowski’s decision merely reinforced a divide in which both sides have their own media that they are prepared to talk to who are oriented to serving their core electorates.

Democracy is about outcome as well as process

Symmetrists are agnostic about the state of Polish democracy. They recognise the problems with judicial reform and the party politicisation of public administration, state-owned firms and public media.

However, they do not see democracy as just a question of process but also one of outcome. They therefore tend to point to the fact that the present government has been far more successful at keeping its promises to the electorate and addressing the concerns of the voters than its predecessors. They refuse to see the battle between PO and PiS as being a choice of democracy versus authoritarianism.

Symmetrists tend to agree that the big challenges for Poland are in the first instance external rather than internal. The war in Ukraine means Poland has to re-arm. Second, the Germans and French want a federal Europe quickly, whereas it is not in Poland’s interests to have the euro too soon and to lose too much sovereignty too quickly.

These are far bigger challenges than anything internal it faces like the mess with the judiciary or disputes over abortion and same-sex unions. On these axiomatic issues, the symmetrists have divergent views, but they do not see them as being of central importance.

No hyping of the significance of this year’s elections

Politicians always claim that the next election is the most important. Both pro and anti-government media keep making that claim about this autumn’s parliamentary polls. Symmetrists, by contrast, are sceptical and tend to feel that it is unlikely to be very decisive for Poland or its polity.

PiS may want to further centralise power by limiting the prerogatives and resources of local government, increasing control over the judiciary, limiting the work of non-governmental organizations, having state-owned firms take control of parts of the commercial media, and stopping the cultural revolution it dislikes.

However, they will find it hard even to persuade the current, never mind the next, president to back them on such a course. Duda has already twice in the last year vetoed a government bill to centralise controls over schools to prevent the “moral corruption” of children.

On migration, rhetoric and reality are miles apart. PiS may promise a hard line but in reality hundreds of thousands are pouring in, and they are not all Ukrainians by any means.

As for the cultural revolution, it is proceeding despite or maybe even sometimes because of the actions of the government. Young people love to rebel against authority and the alliance of church and throne has often proved problematic for both.

It is most unlikely that either the opposition or the ruling party can land a decisive blow in this year’s election. It may turn out that neither has a simple majority in parliament, let alone the two thirds required to change the constitution of three fifths to overturn a presidential veto.

The mess with the judicial system cannot be satisfactorily resolved in the present partisan climate and liberalisation of the abortion law that is consistent with the present constitution cannot be passed. Symmetrists recognise that reality better than most.

Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Krzysztof Mularczyk worked for four years for TVP’s English language service. Previously he has held executive positions in civil society organisations and in the UN system.