Poland holds momentous, tight presidential election run-off
DUDA’S SUPPORT HAS SLIPPED PARTLY DUE TO COVID-19, WHICH IS PUSHING POLAND INTO FIRST RECESSION SINCE FALL OF COMMUNISM.
WARSAW: Poles voted on Sunday in a knife-edge presidential run-off between a populist incumbent closely allied with US President Donald Trump and a europhile liberal keen to mend fences with Brussels.
The s t a kes a r e hi g h f o r Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice (PIS) party government, which has relied on incumbent President Andrzej Duda to push through judicial reforms that have set Warsaw on a collision course with the EU over democratic standards just three decades after communism’s demise.
Duda is locked in a tight race with Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) and final opinion polls showed an almost even split between the two.
Wojciech, a 59- year- old builder, said he chose Duda for his close ties to Trump and because he “agrees completely” with the incumbent’s vow to ban adoption for same-sex couples.
“Duda’s cooperation with Trump means we can count on the US for defence,” he told AFP after voting in Warsaw, declining to give his surname.
But Warsaw pensioners who identified themselves only as Helena and Maria, both in their eighties, said they chose the proEuropean Trzaskowski in the hope he could “get things back on the right track with the EU”.
“We remember too well how it was before (under communism), so for our grandchildren we want Poland to be stable in Europe,” Helena told AFP.
Long queues formed at polling stations as social distancing measures were in effect to stem coronavirus infections.
Voters were also required to wear masks, use hand sanitiser and their own pens, plus to give priority to pensioners, pregnant women and voters with children.
The election had been due in May - at a time when Duda was riding high in opinion polls - but was delayed due to the pandemic.