The last time anyone other than the Law and Justice party (PiS) ruled Poland, Aleksandra, a sociology student in Warsaw, was 10. Throughout her adolescence, the rightwing populism of Jarosław Kaczyński’s party was the defining force, a series of governments rolling back abortion rights, eroding the rule of law and politicising the state apparatus.
Now, however, Aleksandra’s generation appears to have fought back, turning out in huge numbers to help oust PiS and its septuagenarian leader from power. “I voted for the first time and I don’t really remember a Poland ruled by the opposition,” said the now 18-year-old student, who preferred not to give her surname.
