15:17 23 January 2020
Economist report slams Poland’s right-wing ruling party
Poland has dropped down the rankings for the 5th year in a row in a report entitled “Democracy Index 2019” published by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
EIU – part of the London-headquartered magazine, the Economist, put the blame squarely on Poland’s nationalist and populist ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party for the country’s poorer rank and stated: “The ruling conservative-nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party continued its efforts to turn the country into an ‘illiberal democracy’, including by constraining the independence of the judiciary and consolidating media ownership in Polish hands.”
Poland with a score of 6.62 grabbed the 57th spot globally and fell below Hungary (6.63, 55th) in the ranking for the first time since 2010.
The annual survey, which rates the state of democracy across 167 countries based on five measures – electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture, and civil liberties – finds that democracy has been eroded around the world in the past year.
The global score of 5.44 out of ten is the lowest recorded since the index began in 2006.
The list is topped by Norway, with Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, and Finland rounding out the top 5.
North Korea figures at the bottom of the global ranking at the 167th spot.
