Olga Tokarczuk addresses the media before a lecture, after being awarded the 2018 literature Nobel Prize, in Bielefeld, Germany, October 10, 2019. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, who on Thursday was named the 2018 winner of the Nobel literature prize, said that Poland’s general election on Sunday presents a chance for improving democracy in the country.

Opinion polls show the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is set to win the election despite criticism that it has weakened democracy through increased control over the judiciary and media.

“The prize goes to eastern Europe, which is unusual, incredible. For me as a Polish, it shows that despite all those problems with democracy in my country we still have something to say to the world,” Tokarczuk told reporters ahead of a lecture in the German town of Bielefeld.

“...I would like to tell my friends, people in Poland, let’s vote in a right way for democracy.”