Poland’s election may be the dawn of a more tolerant future | Stefan Bielik

In the decades since the second world war, Poland has rarely been a country of mass demonstrations. It has never had its equivalent of the Prague spring, or Ukraine’s Euromaidan. But the four years since the Law and Justice party (PiS) came to power have been marked by public demonstrations – from nationalist commemorations of independence day and Catholic-run “marches for life and family” to LGBT rights parades, pro-choice protests and the Campaign to Defend Democracy’s [KOD] fight against the government’s perceived weakening of the constitution.

Sunday’s parliamentary election can be viewed as a test of the relative success of these different campaigns. Despite polling that suggests Law and Justice will secure the best results of any single party in the post-1989 period, there is much to suggest the country is increasingly divided.