Polish Campaign to Discredit Judges Dents Ruling Party’s Support

(Bloomberg) -- Support for Poland’s ruling Law & Justice party dropped following a scandal in which a top Justice Ministry official was accused of running a campaign to smear judges critical of the government.

Backing for the party declined to 39%, a drop of five percentage points in 10 days that nearly wiped out a gain in popularity over the summer, according to a Kantar poll for TVN published Friday. The largest opposition Civic Coalition group saw its support rise three percentage points to 30%.

The survey was carried out Aug. 22, two days after Deputy Justice Minister Lukasz Piebiak stepped down after a news site published leaked transcriptions alleging that he backed a campaign to discredit jurors. The scandal continues to dominate the media, with new allegations on government efforts to undermine the credibility of judges published almost every day.

“It’s clearly the effect of the scandal at the Justice Ministry,” said Marcin Zaborowski, a senior associate at Visegrad Insight, a think-tank.

While democracy watchdogs said the scandal revealed a systemic threat to democratic standards and human rights, Law & Justice still holds a commanding lead before Oct. 13 general elections.

It has managed to maintain its support by boosting welfare benefits, while robust economic growth and rising wages have also helped it keep its lead over the splintered opposition.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Wojciech Moskwa

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