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| - Nine former Polish leaders on Thursday urged voters to boycott upcoming presidential elections, adding to mounting criticism the poll should not be held by post during the coronavirus outbreak. Poland's governing right-wing Justice party (PiS) has vowed to move ahead with the May 10 vote, and is seeking parliamentary approval to conduct the ballot by mail. But critics have said it is unconstitutional to change the election code so close to voting day, and argue that even a vote by mail could put citizens at risk of catching coronavirus. Ballots still needs to be delivered by hand, thus risking exposure, opponents said. Several former Polish prime ministers and presidents joined the chorus of opposition Thursday, vowing to abstain from the "pseudo-election" and urging voters to join them. "We hope that candidates and voters who share our concern for the democratic future of Poland will do the same," they said in a statement Thursday. The letter was signed by Lech Walesa, former leader of the anti-communist Solidarity movement who became Poland's first post-war democratically elected president in 1990. It was also signed by his successors, the leftist Aleksander Kwasniewski and centrist Bronislaw Komorowski and six other ex-leaders. The governing party needs to receive enough votes in parliament to hold a postal vote, and lawmakers are due to decide on the issue on May 7. In their letter, the former leaders said a postal vote "creates opportunities to illegally vote on behalf of others". They added that the process "poses a threat to the life and health of citizens during this epidemic". On Tuesday, Donald Tusk, another former Polish prime minister who now heads the European People's Party (EPP), called on Poles to boycott what he said was a "risky" election. Only one in four want the vote to go ahead as scheduled on May 10, according to a poll published on Tuesday in one of Poland's leading newspapers. Poles have been required to stay home since last month to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which officials say has killed 644 people and infected more than 12,877 in the EU country of 38 million. sw-frj/mas/jv
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