PiS promises more social benefits as support declines

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has announced a number of incentives during its convention over the weekend, seen by many as a move to fight the declining support. The promises include cutting the income tax for the smallest companies to 9 percent from the current 15 percent, expanding benefits for families with multiple children, including providing pension benefits for mothers of at least four children, as well as improving quality of life for the elderly and PLN 5 billion earmarked for local roads. “We threw down the gauntlet to all the neoliberals who said that economic policy can only be based on their notes from the 1990s,” PM Mateusz Morawiecki said in his speech. The promises are seen by many as an attempt to combat the sliding support, which was hurt in recent weeks by the international diplomatic spat with Israel and the United States, protests against further restricting abortion laws, and most of all impressive financial rewards for ministers and top aides. “You don’t go into politics for the money,” PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said at the convention. Local elections will be held in the fall this year, while parliamentary elections are due in 2019 and the presidential vote in 2020.