2023-10-01 16:24 update: 2023-10-02, 14:26
Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
Donald Tusk, the head of the main opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO), has said a vast rally in the centre of Warsaw is a “signal for Poland’s rebirth” and that a “force that cannot be stopped” has been unleashed.
Tusk was addressing tens of thousands of supporters who had packed into the Polish capital to attend the "March of a Million Hearts" on Sunday.
The march, which opposition leaders said could attract a million people, had been called to galvanise support for the opposition ahead of Poland’s general election on October 15.
"This is the moment which is a signal for Poland's rebirth," said Tusk. "This force cannot be stopped as the giant has awoken," he continued, adding that no one holding power should have any illusions as "change is inevitable, for the better."
"We are starting the march in Warsaw which is a symbol of rebirth," Tusk said, adding that "the impossible has become possible."
"We are here today to tell all people in Poland and in the world that Poland has been born to win," he continued, adding that Poland deserved more.
"We are a great nation. We have been born to win. We have such power," the KO leader told the gathering.
Addressing the rally, Rafal Trzaskowski, the Warsaw mayor, said that today's gathering was a march for victory in the October 15 election, and a march for a completely new Poland.
"Being full of courage and determination, we are going towards the future, towards a Poland which is tolerant, diverse, European and smiling," Trzaskowski said.
Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, the New Left co-chairman, said he was at the march as he believed that the opposition should cooperate. "I believe that the opposition will form a joint government after the election," he said, adding he was talking about the Third Way, the Civic Coalition and the Left.
The route of the march is planned through Marszalkowska, Swietokrzyska, Jana Pawla II Streets to the Radoslaw roundabout. It is to end at 4:00 p.m.
In a special post on the website of the main opposition party Civic Platform (PO) Tusk said earlier: "We are standing up to fight evil, to hold this government accountable, face to face, so that Poland will once again be free from lies, hatred and theft. This is our time." (PAP)
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