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| - Poland's governing right-wing party on Thursday proposed a universal postal vote as part of controversial plans to push ahead with a May 10 presidential election despite the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. "We'll be able to vote by mail, won't not need to go to a polling station because there will be no polling stations," Ryszard Terlecki, deputy speaker of parliament who is also a senior member of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, told Polish media. Pointing to the risk of a surge in COVID-19 infections, the liberal opposition has urged voters to boycott the election, while local government authorities have refused to set up election commissions and polling stations. An opinion poll last week showed that 72 percent of respondents wanted the ballot postponed. The PiS-dominated parliament is expected vote on the amendment of the election code allowing a universal postal vote on Friday. The move has sparked unprecedented tensions within right-wing coalition headed by the PiS, according to Poland's Onet news website and RMF FM commercial radio. Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin wants the election postponed for one year and, according to unconfirmed reports, has even threatened to pull his Agreement party put of the government. Last week, the PiS pushed through measures allowing people over 60 and in quarantine or self-isolation to vote via postal ballot, a move the opposition slammed as unconstitutional. Critics including constitutional experts claim the measures violate Constitutional Court rulings stating that changes to the election code must be adopted at least six months before voting day. The government has come under heavy pressure over its decision to continue with the election despite a nationwide lockdown to curb virus infections. Surveys also show a surge in the popularity of PiS-allied incumbent President Andrzej Duda amid the crisis, giving him a shot at a first-round victory. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a close Duda ally, have said they see no reason to postpone the election. Duda himself admitted on Saturday that the current "election date may turn out to be unsustainable" should the pandemic "still be raging" in mid-May. An EU member of 38 million people, Poland has recorded 2,633 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 45 deaths. It shut borders and schools earlier this month and has since limited public gatherings to two people with restricted freedom of movement. via/mas/bp
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