Polish vote for president likely headed for a runoff
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s conservative president, Andrzej Duda, was the frontrunner in Sunday’s election but fell short of the 50 percent of votes needed to win in the first round, according to the projection of an exit poll.
The results, if confirmed, pave the way for what is building into a very tight race in July 12 runoff that will most likely pit the populist incumbent against the centrist Warsaw mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, who was in second place.
Whether Duda ultimately wins a second five-year term in two weeks’ time will determine whether the ruling nationalist party that backs him, Law and Justice, keeps its near-monopoly on political power in Poland.
The European Union has denounced the party over laws that have given it control over top courts and key judicial bodies, something the 27-nation bloc has denounced as an erosion of European values.
Since the Polish president has the power to veto laws,
Duda winning a second term is crucial to the party. The pro-EU Trzaskowski has vowed to block any new laws that violate constitutional norms.
In a speech to cheering supporters late Sunday in the town of Lowicz, west of Warsaw, Duda noted that his result was better than in the first round five years ago.
“I have this result after five years of being in politics, of being criticized in many ways, attacked, of taking difficult decisions,” Duda said. “After these five years many more people voted for me.”
According to the projection by the Ipsos polling firm, Duda won 41.8 percent and Trzaskowski 30.4 percent in Sunday’s vote. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Poland’s state electoral commission has said it would release the final official results by Wednesday evening.
Trzaskowski told his supporters it was good news the majority opposed Duda.
“I want to say clearly to all these citizens - I will be your candidate. I will be the candidate of change,” he said.