Opposition holds huge rally in Warsaw ahead of elections
A "March of a Million Hearts" in which opposition parties rally supporters ahead of October 15 general election will start in Warsaw at 12 noon today.
The march called for by Donald Tusk, the head of the main opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO), is expected to bring tens of thousands to the capital's streets.
In a special post on the website of the main opposition party Civic Platform (PO) Tusk said: "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."
On Friday, Tusk told a private broadcaster TVN 24 that Sunday's march "will be one of the largest demonstrations in recent years in Europe."
"This will be one of the biggest events in Polish politics since regaining independence," he said.
He added that it was not just "a march of any party" but of "those who want a better Poland."
Tusk, announced the "Million Hearts March" in July, following the police intervention in the southern city of Krakow against a hospitalized woman named Joanna. He expressed then indignation at the treatment of women in Poland following the tightening of abortion laws and called on all who oppose the current government to attend the October 1 rally.
He also had signalled his hope that the attendance would be twice greater than during his previous Warsaw march, on June 4, the anniversary of Poland's first partially-free elections of 1989, which brought together half-a-million people, according to Warsaw City Hall.
