PiS names Przemyslaw Czarnek as 2027 lead candidate
Mar 11th 2026
The nationalist Law and Justice party has chosen former education minister Przemyslaw Czarnek as its lead candidate for the 2027 election, a move meant to recapture rightwing voters and shift the party closer to the far right.
- Law and Justice selected 48-year-old Przemyslaw Czarnek to lead its 2027 parliamentary campaign.
- Czarnek has been PiS deputy head since 2025 and was education and science minister from 2020 to 2023, a period marked by mass protests and accusations of curbing academic freedom.
- His launch speech stressed nationalist conservative themes, including opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, promotion of traditional family roles, and support for Polish coal over EU climate measures.
- PiS aims to win back voters drifting to two far-right parties that together now poll roughly the same as PiS, after PiS support fell from about 35% in 2023 to around 20% now.
- Analysts say the nomination signals PiS is prioritizing its right flank even if that risks losing centrist voters.
- Opposition figures reacted strongly, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk warning of an "all-out battle" in 2027 and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski mocking Czarnek's suitability for European office.
- Czarnek has previously reduced then partly restored German language lessons for minorities and blocked a German-Polish history textbook series, raising concerns about Polish-German relations.
- He immediately proposed a draft bill to cut VAT on gas from 23% to 8% amid record fuel prices.