The Polish opposition celebrates its second place in the elections

“This is the end of the PiS government.”

The Polish opposition celebrates its second place in the elections

Today, October 16, 2023 | 07:13

Second place is rarely celebrated. “I am the happiest person in the world today,” Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk said on election evening in Warsaw. “Poland has won, democracy has won. This is the end of the PiS government. The nationalist conservative PiS party has ruled Poland for eight years. After Sunday’s parliamentary elections, three pro-European opposition parties are now confident that they will have a ruling majority and that The PiS government will soon be a thing of the past.“Poland will return to Europe on October 15,” said Robert Biedron of the party’s left-wing Lewka coalition.

The Law and Justice Party is the strongest political force, but it lacks an absolute majority

According to preliminary projections, the liberal-conservative Citizens’ Coalition led by Tusk came in second place with 31.6%. This would result in 163 parliamentary terms. The Citizens’ Alliance could thus form a coalition with the conservative Christian Third Way Party (13 percent) and Luika (8.6 percent) as junior partners. The three-party coalition will obtain 248 seats out of a total of 460 seats and will therefore have a majority in Parliament. “We are now waiting for the official result. We will sit and talk and we will definitely reach an agreement,” an optimistic Tusk told TVN24.

Meanwhile, faces of gunfire at PiS headquarters. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and others watch party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s speech with frozen facial expressions and nervous smiles. According to expectations, the Law and Justice Party will be the strongest political force with 36.8%, but it will lack an absolute majority and will include 200 deputies. It will also be difficult with an alliance partner.

The far-right Confederaga party reaches 6.2 percent

Unaffected by the atmosphere of inactivity surrounding him, Kaczynski speaks of “a great success” and swears his followers to fight: “Regardless of whether we are in power or in opposition, we will implement this project and will not allow Poland to be betrayed.” However, the 74-year-old indirectly admits that he does not rule out going into the opposition. Because the only coalition partner that could be taken into consideration for PiS is the far-right CNT. But it is expected that the formation will receive 6.2% and 12 deputies, and this is not enough. In addition, the far right always declared during the election campaign: no alliance with the Law and Justice Party.

The elections attracted an unusually high level of interest: according to forecasts, voter turnout was 73 percent – the highest figure since the end of communism in 1989. The trend towards a clear division of voters between East and West will continue in 2018. These parliamentary elections: According to Expectations: The liberal conservatives can win the regions located in the west of the country. KO scores in an arc from Pomerania to Silesia and along the German-Polish border. Big cities are also their strongholds. On the other hand, Law and Justice once again won a majority in southern and eastern Poland. The Election Commission wants to announce the official results of the elections by Tuesday.

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Then follow the next step. The Polish Constitution stipulates that the president appoints a politician to form the government. Head of State Andrzej Duda had already indicated before the elections that he would adhere to the political custom of entrusting this task to a representative of the strongest political force. The proposed government must then be approved by Parliament. If this fails due to lack of a majority, Parliament can use its majority to form the government. And then perhaps Donald Tusk’s hour will come. But until then, it may be a few more weeks of uncertainty.