Battle over mink farming almost brings down Polish government

KASZEWSKA WOLA, POLAND >> When the European Union condemned Poland’s government for demonizing gays and lesbians, the country’s governing coalition defiantly stood together. When state media was accused of spreading hate speech that fueled violence, the governing parties brushed off concerns. And when protests erupted against efforts to control the judicial system, they pressed ahead regardless. Then came the minks. Proposed leg islation that would ban the farming of minks, semiaquatic mammals prized for their fur, and put in place a range of protections for other animals, opened deep divisions in the coalition that almost brought down the government.

It took the intervention of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the dominant Law and Justice Party, to quell the uprising for now by taking on a formal role that allowed him to act as a buffer between opposing factions.

The bill, which gained momentum after a documentary aired on Polish television showing minks living in deplorable conditions on one farm, has widespread public support and the leaders of the country’s foremost opposition party support the legislation.

But the conservative governing coalition is divided over the issue, waging increasingly furious internal battles at a time when the nation is consumed with the coronavirus. All that has raised questions about the longterm viability of the government.

In the face of those concerns, Kaczynski, the most powerful politician in Poland and the architect of the government’s agenda, stepped in Tuesday to be sworn in as deputy prime minister after five years of ruling from behind the scenes.

Apart from separating feuding coalition partners, one of his main tasks will be trying to grow public support for the Law and Justice Party, whose candidate for president, Andrzej Duda, only managed a narrow election victory in July.

It will be a difficult challenge since Kaczynski has been the driving force behind efforts by his party to marginalize the LGBT community, a campaign that has turned off many young voters. And his government has spent years at war with the European Union, despite broad support in Poland for membership in the bloc, especially among the generation born after the end of communist rule in 1989.

The government also has a dismal record on environmental issues — from logging in the country’s ancient forests to failing to curb a reliance on coal.

But in championing animal rights, Kaczynski sees an opportunity.

“This is a pivotal moment for the party,” said Wojciech Przybylski, the editor- in- chief of Visegrad Insight, a policy journal focused on Central Europe. Kaczynski, he said, knows he needs to expand his political base to include younger, more moderate voters by sending “a message of concern about nature and animals.”

While Kaczynski’s Law and Justice Party has long been the dominant force in the United Right coalition, it depends on the support of two junior conservative partners to stay in power: the Agreement and United Poland parties.

United Poland is led by the country’s powerful justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who has made no secret of his desire to become the leader of the country’s conservative movement. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki sees himself as the heir apparent. Kaczynski’s emergence as deputy prime minister was partly aimed at keeping the two men apart.