PARIS – Polish voters today issued a serious warning to the outgoing president, the ultra-conservative
Andrzej Duda
, by sending it to ballottage in the first round of an election that could mark a
political future
from that country.
According to projections at the closing of the polls, Duda,
ally of the ruling party
Law and Justice (PiS), obtained
41,8%
of the votes and shall
face on the second lap
, on July 12, to the liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, who obtained 30.4% of the votes. Independent Szymon Holownia came in third with 13.3% of the vote, followed by far-right nationalist Krzysztof Bosak (7.4%).
“I won this first fit lap
incontestable
thanks to your votes. The advantage is enormous and I am grateful to them, “Duda congratulated himself from the city of Lowicz, in the center of the country.
Duda, 48, yesterday faced
ten other candidates
, although all the polls indicated Trzaskowski, from the main opposition party, Plataforma Cívica (PO), as his sure rival in the ballottage.
A potential setback
An eventual victory for Trzaskowski (48) would be a
hard reverse
for the current government, whose controversial judicial, media and social reforms frequently caused
shocks and convictions
of the European Union (EU). It was precisely because of this ultra-conservative policy that the campaign was dominated by concerns about the state of democracy and social issues, at a time when Poland was facing the first recession since communism ended in 1989.
The PiS assures that these reforms were necessary to
eliminate corruption
of the judges. But the opposition and most EU member countries criticize these measures “that
erode democracy
and they violate the principles of the block. ”
The last of those episodes happened this month, when Duda condemned the promotion of the rights of the LGBT community, calling them “a more destructive ideology than communism” and the Vice President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, replied that it was
“sad”
that a leader, exercising a high office, “decides to attack a minority to obtain political revenue”.
During his energetic campaign, Trzaskowski promised for his part to repair, in case of victory, the
relationship with Brussels
and a “new era” for his country. The mayor of the capital, who campaigned with the simple slogan “We are fed up” assures that “he will only cooperate with the PiS if he changes his policy in numerous aspects”.
Young and cultivated
Trzaskowski had to fight to get rid of an image of condescending and metropolitan elitist in the interior of the country.
A key choice
“We are before a
decisive moment
. Many things depend on this decision, “said Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity movement and first president of Poland in the post-communist era. In recent years, Walesa has become a severe critic of the PiS government.
Andrzej Duda was much more successful on the other side of the Atlantic when last Wednesday he became the
first foreign leader to visit Donald Trump
since the coronavirus pandemic began. “He is doing a fantastic job. The Poles blindly trust him,” Trump said, in a statement that was interpreted as strong support for his Polish counterpart. After making the decision to withdraw US troops stationed in Germany, Trump also promised Duda that part of those thousands of soldiers will be sent to Poland.
Former collaborator of former President Lech Kaczynski, co-founder of PiS, who died in a plane crash, the current president is a
ultra-Catholic
, stubborn enemy of marriage and adoption by gay couples.
Trzaskowski, meanwhile, had a meteoric rise in the polls when he decided in May to participate in these elections. Member of the former Prime Minister’s Civic Platform party – and later President of the European Council – Donald Tusk, won the 2018 municipal elections by promising a “Warsaw for all”.
Initially, the elections were planned for
mayo
, when Duda had a loose lead in the polls. Although PiS leaders made efforts to organize the elections by mail due to the pandemic, these were finally
canceled at the last minute
.
Yesterday was the first presidential election held in the EU since the pandemic began. Poland registered so far
34,000 cases
, much less than the rest of its European partners. However, voters had to appear at the voting offices with face masks, their own pens, avoid touching door handles and respect interpersonal distance. Despite the restrictions, participation exceeded expectations:
48% of the electorate
He had voted at 17 local time, against 34% in the previous presidential elections, in 2015.
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