In the old Lenin shipyard in Gdansk, where striking workers were once the catalyst for major political change, young Poles now debate how to protect democracy in their country.

As right-wing Law and Justice party, or PiS, seeks a record third term in office, they worry that the rights and freedoms won by Solidarity over three decades ago could be threatened.

Julia Landowska, a student activist, said, “This weekend’s vote is extremely important. We are deciding whether our country will be a democratic one again.”

The time has come for us to participate in the elections and fight for a better future for Poland.”

It was under the slogan In My Day, Things Will Be Better that she helped organize the event.

A mixture of discussions, live music, and a silent disco was designed to encourage reluctant younger voters to vote.

Others in Gdansk share the activist’s concern over the shrinking independence of the courts under the PiS government as well as the backsliding on women’s rights.

Also of concern is media freedom – publicly-funded TV becoming a mouthpiece for the government – as well as acrimony with Brussels on judicial reform and migration.

As a result, many Poles are hailing the 15 October election as the most important since 1989, when Solidarity candidates won in the first partially-free vote since communism ended.

The northern port city of Gdansk is synonymous with Poland’s struggle for freedom.

Billboards throughout the city center depict the momentous changes brought about by the protest led by an electrician named Lech Walesa, in the Solidarity museum in the shipyard.

Re-election is on the ballot for his son this year.

“We must win, so we can restore everything that has been destroyed in eight years,” Jaroslaw Walesa explained, referring to the two terms the PiS has been in power.

In the same way as Brussels, he is concerned that Polish courts are becoming politicized.