Poland’s president to veto changes to election rules that would benefit bigger parties

16 Aug, 2018 11:53 / Updated 6 years ago

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday he would veto a law proposed by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party that would benefit bigger parties, including the euroskeptic PiS and the main opposition grouping, in European Parliament elections next year. Duda said the rules, approved by parliament in July, effectively meant that parties would need as much as 16.5 percent of the vote to win any seats in the European legislature, Reuters reported. “That’s moving too far away from the standards of proportional representation,” he said. A strong performance by euroskeptic parties across the EU in the election could have a significant impact on future policy-making in the bloc. Nearly three years since winning a parliamentary vote in 2015, PiS enjoys robust public support in Poland.