Around 1 million people joined a demonstration in Warsaw on Sunday against Poland's ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, two weeks before the country holds national elections.
A dense parade of participants marched through the city centre, carrying banners bearing slogans like "We have had enough and want change" and "Together we have strength."
Poles are called vote on October 15. In all surveys so far, the ruling PiS nationalists, who have been in power since 2015, lead by a clear margin, but may need to find a coalition partner to form a government.
According to a survey by the Ibris Institute on September 27, the governing party is projected to get 35.1% of the vote and can hope for a third term in government.
The demonstration, dubbed the "March of a Million Hearts," was called by former prime minister Donald Tusk's centre-right Civic Coalition, which emerged from his previous party Civic Platform. The left-wing alliance Lewica also supported the demonstration.
"Nothing can stop this force," Tusk said on Sunday. "Let no one in the ranks of power up there have any illusions. This change is inevitable."
"This is the biggest demonstration in Warsaw's history," a city hall spokeswoman said, after city officials put Sunday's march turnout at around 1 million. Poland's largest news website Onet.pl estimated 800,000 participants.
"I want an open, European Poland," said Iwona, 59, who came with her husband Andrzej from Bialystok in the east of the country to attend the march.
"We want to look to the future instead of constantly digging into the past and seeking any hostilities with neighbours like Germany."
Tomasz Szulc meanwhile wore a red-haired wig to the demonstration, just like his two friends Marek and Franciszek, in what he explained was a reference to Tusk being called "red-haired and mean" by a presenter on the PiS-syndicated public broadcaster TVP.
"I am just embarrassed by this government, this whole state."
While the opposition marched through the streets of Warsaw, the PiS was holding an election rally in the southern city of Katowice, where Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki again played the anti-German card.
"Donald Tusk listened to Angela Merkel, who whispered in his ear that he should raise the retirement age," he told the audience. The PiS has been trying for years to discredit Tusk as a German servant.
The upcoming election may force the PiS party to seek a coalition partner, and it in this even it may find one in the ultra-right Konfederacja.
This party demands a total ban on abortion, and its representatives do not shy from anti-Semitic conspiracy myths. The Konfederacja is particularly popular with young men from the countryside.
Tusk's Civic Coalition is in second place in the polls. Even if the momentum from the demonstration were to lead to victory, it would probably need another coalition partner besides the left.
