Army confirms resignation of top Polish generals, in blow to ruling party Two of Poland’s top military commanders, including the chief of the general staff, have tendered their resignations just days before a crucial parliamentary election that will determine the future political course of the country. The army confirmed on Tuesday that Gen Rajmund Andrzejczak, chief of the general staff, and the operational commander, Lt Gen Tomasz Piotrowski, had submitted their resignations. The resignations are a blow to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has run its election campaign based on a claim it is a patriotic force protecting Poland from external enemies, and is the only party that can take care of Poland’s security. PiS is seeking a third consecutive term in office, but is facing a challenge from opposition groupings led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk. Polls suggest the race will be extremely close. “It is a symbolic decision. They decided to take this step just before the elections to show that they do not have confidence in this political class,” former foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz, told the news portal Onet.pl. Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the final straw for the two generals was a decision by interior minister Mariusz Blaszczak to put another commander, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, in charge of a military operation to evacuate Polish citizens from Israel in recent days. But the tension between the army top brass and the defence ministry has apparently been growing for months, with major decisions made in circumvention of the army leadership. Summary of the day Two of Poland’s top military commanders, including the chief of the general staff, have tendered their resignations just days before a crucial parliamentary election that will determine the future political course of the country. Read the story. Critics of the ruling Law and Justice party argued that the resignations were partly the outcome to the politicisation of the armed forces by the current government. Jakub Jaraczewski, a research coordinator at Democracy Reporting International, said that smaller parties stole the show at last night’s election debate. Robert Biedroń, a member of the European parliament from Poland’s opposition New Left, told the Guardian that the Left’s candidate “performed brilliantly” in the debate. With only days until Poles vote, candidates across the political spectrum encouraged supporters to maintain their energy. There appears to be strong interest from Poles living abroad in this weekend’s election Robert Biedroń, a member of the European parliament from Poland’s opposition New Left, has told the Guardian today that he feels the Left’s candidate did well in yesterday’s debate, despite what he described as an uneven playing field. “On the regime public television – TVP – they wanted to bash [Donald] Tusk, but they did not take into account that the show could be stolen by our candidate from the Nowa Lewica – Joanna Scheuring – Wielgus,” Biedroń said in an emailed statement. “She did great compared to the other men taking part in the ‘debate’. I use this word with the full awareness of the sarcasm behind it – because it had little to do with a real political debate,” he said. “The questions were formatted in such a way as to become an opportunity for Mateusz Morawiecki to constantly grill Donald Tusk. The important for the TV was not how important the question is, but whether it could be presented in a dichotomy: the PO-PSL government was doing everything wrong, the PiS government was doing everything right,” he added. “This is what our candidate benefited from,” Biedroń said, “and she performed brilliantly – by smuggling points from the Nowa Lewica election program into each of her statements, referring to private experiences, and exposing the lies of the current ruling party.” “This electoral game was played with marked cards but we – as the Nowa Lewica – have won anyway,” he added. Army confirms resignation of top Polish generals, in blow to ruling party Two of Poland’s top military commanders, including the chief of the general staff, have tendered their resignations just days before a crucial parliamentary election that will determine the future political course of the country. The army confirmed on Tuesday that Gen Rajmund Andrzejczak, chief of the general staff, and the operational commander, Lt Gen Tomasz Piotrowski, had submitted their resignations. The resignations are a blow to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has run its election campaign based on a claim it is a patriotic force protecting Poland from external enemies, and is the only party that can take care of Poland’s security. PiS is seeking a third consecutive term in office, but is facing a challenge from opposition groupings led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk. Polls suggest the race will be extremely close. “It is a symbolic decision. They decided to take this step just before the elections to show that they do not have confidence in this political class,” former foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz, told the news portal Onet.pl. Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the final straw for the two generals was a decision by interior minister Mariusz Blaszczak to put another commander, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, in charge of a military operation to evacuate Polish citizens from Israel in recent days. But the tension between the army top brass and the defence ministry has apparently been growing for months, with major decisions made in circumvention of the army leadership. Pictures from Poland’s polarising campaign The resignation of top generals in Poland, days ahead of the election, is garnering more and more attention – and questions. Women in spotlight as election nears Reuters’ Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk writes that with the number of undecided female voters twice as high as men in most age groups, sociologists say the opposition’s success in galvanising them could tip the scales. “PiS doesn’t respect women,” Magdalena Bojko, a 36-year-old office worker, said during an opposition rally this month. Asked what she hoped PiS’ main rival, Civic Coalition (KO), might do if it won, she said: “Guarantee we can bear children in dignity, have access to IVF.” “There is a belief that due to the current legislation in Poland ... one can simply die from being pregnant,” said Antonina Lewandowska from the Foundation for Women and Family Planning. “Women in Poland are terrified.” What do the polls say? The margins are very tight – and much depends on how smaller parties perform. An IBRiS poll commissioned for Polsat earlier this month put the Law and Justice-led coalition at 34.6%, the Civic Platform-led coalition at 27.9%, and The Left at 11.4%. According to this poll, Third Way would not enter parliament. A Kantar poll, conducted for TVN at the beginning of October, found that the Law and Justice-led group would get 34%. But in this poll, the Civic Platform-led coalition would get 30%, The Left 10% and Third Way 9%. Put together, this poll found that these three opposition groupings would have a majority of seats. More than 5 million people watched last night’s televised election debate, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. Poland’s elections on 15 October could give the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party an unprecedented third term in office, or hand its longstanding opposition the chance to reverse what critics describe as eight years of democratic backsliding. Another possibility is that they end in stalemate, with neither party able to form a coalition. Whatever happens, Poland’s politics will remain deeply polarised after a ballot that – amid war in Ukraine and a bitter dispute with the EU – is of more than usual interest abroad. Read the full explainer ahead of Sunday’s vote. Polish opposition puts spotlight on generals" resignation A number of high-profile opposition Polish politicians have criticised Law and Justice after the resignation of two senior military figures this week, arguing that the move reflects poorly on the ruling party’s leadership. Michał Szczerba, a member of the Polish parliament from the opposition Civic Platform, said that the environment was becoming more dangerous, despite Law and Justice’s campaign promise of a safe Poland. The resignation did not look serious for allies, he added. A planned media appearance by Polish president, Andrzej Duda, has been cancelled after news that top generals have resigned, Gazeta Wyborcza reports. Law and Justice focuses campaign on migration The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has drawn from the classic rightwing populist playbook and have focused its campaign on migration. The party has even launched a referendum on the same day to mobilise its base to go and vote – and two of the four leading questions on the referendum are about migration. The evening news frequently features horror stories from Lampedusa and elsewhere in Europe. In last night’s debate, the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said: “We will protect Poles from rapes, from cars being set on fire like in Stockholm. PiS is a guarantee of security.” The PiS claim about keeping Poles safe is partly based around a wall it constructed at the border with Belarus last year to keep refugees and migrants out. But behind the newsreels of a safe, secure Poland is a story of a humanitarian crisis. The Guardian’s Shaun Walker spent several days reporting this long story from the border published last week.