Polish presidential election too close to call, exit polls suggest

A second exit ballot in Poland’s presidential election has indicated that conservative historian Karol Nawrocki is forward with 50.7% of the vote over Warsaw’s liberal mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski with 49.3%.

The second exit ballot sensationally overturned the results of an exit ballot revealed instantly after voting ended that put Trzaskowski forward with a slender lead of fifty.3% to Nawrocki’s 49.7%.

The official consequence is because of be revealed on Monday morning, the top of the state electoral fee mentioned.

Trzaskowski had already claimed victory after the primary exit ballot indicated he was the winner.

“We received,” he mentioned. “We received, though the phrase ‘razor’s edge’ will perpetually enter the Polish language and politics,” he added.

His spouse, Malgorzata, jokingly advised the group, “I am near having a coronary heart assault”.

Trzaskowski promised to achieve out to voters who supported his opponent. I might be a president for all Polish ladies and men,” he mentioned.

Nawrocki, in the meantime, advised his supporters after the results of the primary exit ballot that it was too near name.

“Let’s not lose hope for this night time. We are going to win in the course of the night time, the distinction is minimal. I consider that we are going to get up tomorrow with President Karol Nawrocki,” he mentioned.

Poland’s president is a largely ceremonial position with restricted affect on international coverage and defence, however they will veto laws and Donald Tusk’s pro-EU coalition authorities lacks a large enough parliamentary majority to overturn it.

The present conservative incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, has used his powers to stop Prime Minister Tusk delivering key marketing campaign guarantees together with eradicating political affect from the judiciary and liberalising the nation’s strict abortion legislation.

If Trzaskowski’s victory is confirmed that impediment could be eliminated and would enable Tusk to cement Poland’s place within the European mainstream.

Nonetheless, Tusk additionally faces opposition from inside his personal coalition from the conservative Peoples’ Social gathering on points together with abortion and legalising civil partnerships.

A victory for nationwide conservative Karol Nawrocki, who’s supported by opposition Regulation and Justice (PiS) occasion, would imply continued battle between the federal government and president.

It might additionally re-energise PiS, which misplaced energy 18 months in the past, giving the occasion the assumption that it may go on to win parliamentary elections in 2027.

Each candidates assist continued help for neighbouring Ukraine, though Nawrocki has mentioned he opposes its entry into Nato and the EU for now whereas Russia continues its conflict of aggression.

Each males differ over their method to the EU. Trzaskowski, a former Europe minister, helps Tusk’s imaginative and prescient of a Poland on the coronary heart of the European mainstream, influencing selections by means of robust relations with Germany and France.

A deputy chief of Tusk’s Civic Platform, he has served as Warsaw mayor since 2018.

He is the son of a well-known Polish jazz pianist, speaks a number of languages and is considered by some voters as a member of the nation’s liberal elite who’s out of contact with strange Poles.

In keeping with the CBOS polling firm, Trzaskowski’s typical voter is aged 30-40 years previous, is comparatively nicely off with left-liberal views and is open to LGBTQ+ and migrants’ rights. They have an inclination to stay in giant cities and have constructive views of the EU.

Some voters mentioned he tried to “artificially” current himself as a candidate who values patriotism. Throughout the marketing campaign, he has taken a a lot harder line towards unlawful migration, one thing Tusk began to do earlier than successful energy in 2023 and he has volunteered to do primary army coaching.

Nawrocki, 42, helps a powerful sovereign Poland and doesn’t need the nation to cede any extra powers to Brussels. He opposes the EU’s local weather and migration insurance policies. He is a conservative Catholic that prioritises conventional household values.

He was comparatively unknown nationally earlier than he was chosen by opposition occasion PiS to be their “unofficial” candidate.

A eager newbie boxer and footballer, he typically posted pictures of himself figuring out, permitting PiS to current him as a powerful candidate who would arise for strange Poles and the nation’s nationwide pursuits.

A fan of President Donald Trump, he flew to Washington in the course of the marketing campaign for an especially transient assembly to get a thumbs-up photograph of himself with the American president within the Oval Workplace.

Throughout the marketing campaign he was attacked by the federal government and media for being morally unfit to be the nation’s president, however the allegations didn’t diminish his assist over the last week of campaigning.

Throughout a presidential debate, Nawrocki mentioned that he, like most Poles, owned one house. That turned out to be a lie.

Nawrocki was accused of making the most of a susceptible senior citizen to amass his council flat at an enormous low cost in change for guarantees of care that had been unfulfilled. Following the scandal, Nawrocki mentioned he would donate the flat to charity however at all times denied the accusation.

Polish information web site Onet.pl accused Nawrocki of serving to to rearrange intercourse employees for visitors on the luxurious Grand Resort within the Baltic seaside resort of Sopot when he labored there as a safety guard.

The story was primarily based on nameless sources, however Onet.pl mentioned the witnesses had sworn they might repeat the allegations below oath in court docket. Nawrocki known as the story a pack of lies and mentioned he would sue the web site.

His opponents portrayed him as a soccer hooligan who admired gangsters and neo-Nazi ultras. Nawrocki didn’t deny participating in hooligan brawls as a youthful man, calling them “noble fights”. He has additionally mentioned these allegations had been an try to smear his repute.

Some Nawrocki voters advised me they didn’t consider sure tales about him, saying they had been innovations of the mainstream Trzaskowski-supporting media.