Recent surveys conducted by SW Research and other pollsters reveal that a majority of Polish citizens view the nomination of Przemysław Czarnek as the Law and Justice (PiS) candidate for Prime Minister unfavorably. Despite Jarosław Kaczyński's strategy to consolidate the party's core base, approximately 50% of respondents believe the move will fail to increase overall electoral support. The former Education Minister remains a polarizing figure, currently focusing his platform on opposing the liquidation of the Central Anticorruption Bureau.
Negative Polling Results
Surveys indicate that the nomination is seen as a 'cold shower' for the party, with low support among moderate voters.
Defense of the CBA
Czarnek has publicly criticized the current government's plans to dissolve the Central Anticorruption Bureau, calling it a political move.
Calls for ETS Abolition
Conservative circles and the candidate are advocating for the complete removal of the EU Emissions Trading System to lower energy costs.
Polls published on March 15, 2026 showed that most Poles view the nomination of Przemysław Czarnek as PiS candidate for prime minister negatively, dealing a blow to the party's hopes that the announcement would boost its standing. The SW Research survey conducted for Onet found that Poles approached the candidacy with skepticism, with only a small minority expressing unambiguously positive views. A second poll, cited by polityka.se.pl and naTemat.pl, produced similarly unfavorable results for the party. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński had placed his hopes in Czarnek's nomination, expecting it to improve the party's poll ratings. Multiple outlets described the combined findings as a "cold shower" for PiS.
Przemysław Czarnek served as minister of education and science from 2020 to 2023 in the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, a period marked by significant controversy over changes to school curricula and academic freedoms. He has been a member of the Sejm since 2019, representing the ninth and tenth terms, and also serves as a vice-president of PiS. Jarosław Kaczyński led the Polish government as prime minister between 2006 and 2007 and has remained the dominant figure in PiS since the party's founding. PiS governed Poland from 2015 until late 2023, when a coalition led by Donald Tusk took power following parliamentary elections.
Czarnek, a legal scholar and professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, used his public profile as the newly announced candidate to weigh in on a government proposal to dissolve the Central Anticorruption Bureau. According to reporting by Niezalezna.pl, Czarnek expressed no doubts about why the current government sought to liquidate the agency, framing the move as politically motivated. The criticism placed him in direct opposition to the ruling coalition on a law enforcement issue that carries significant symbolic weight in Polish politics. His comments were published on the same day that multiple polls on his candidacy appeared in the media, amplifying his visibility as the designated PiS challenger for the premiership.
Separately, the conservative outlet Do Rzeczy published commentary on March 15, 2026 arguing that the EU Emissions Trading System should be abolished entirely rather than reformed, a position aligned with the broader PiS platform on European climate policy. The piece reflected a strand of opinion within the Polish right that views the ETS as an economic burden on Polish industry and households. This argument has gained traction in Polish conservative media as energy costs remain a politically sensitive issue. Czarnek's nomination as prime ministerial candidate places him at the center of a wide-ranging policy debate spanning anticorruption enforcement, education, and European regulatory frameworks. Whether the candidacy translates into measurable gains for PiS in future surveys remains an open question, with current polling offering no confirmed evidence of an upward shift in party support.