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The results of the elections will be crucial to Poland’s ruling rule of law and justice (PiS), which critics accuse of destroying hard-won democratic freedoms three decades after the fall of communism.
Recent polls show that PiS-backed Liberal opposition party Civic Platform (PO) A. Duda and R. Trzaskowski have a limited chance, so the outcome of the elections can be determined by a very small majority of votes. This further increased tensions against voting by 38 million. population.
If Duda wins, the president, along with PiS, will be able to maintain control of almost all key authorities, possibly until the next parliamentary elections in 2023.
At that time, R. Trzaskowski’s victory would give him the opportunity to veto laws passed by the cleaning group. As the President of Poland represents his country abroad, Trzaskowski would also create a more pro-European and peaceful image of Warsaw in European forums.
“Battle for Poland”, the tabloid Super Express published on the cover. The liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza wrote that the Poles are choosing “hope or disaster” and that the outcome of the elections will work more than once.
The presidential election was held in May, when Duda was very popular, but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Duda’s popularity subsequently declined significantly, in part due to the effects of the pandemic, which pushed Poland into its first recession since the communist regime.
Impossible to predict?
The constituencies opened at 5 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (8 p.m. Lithuania) and will be open until 7 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (10 pm Lithuania) and the results of the polls should be announced shortly. The first official results are expected only on Monday morning.
Experts warn that votes can be divided into almost equal parts, making legal disputes and protests possible.
In the first round on June 28, A. Duda received 43.5 percent. Mr. Trzaskowski received the support of 30.5 votes. However, the last candidate must receive a large number of votes cast for the other candidates in the first round.
Eurasia Group says that Trzaskowski needs to mobilize very different groups of voters against Duda, so the current president is likely to win, albeit by a small margin.
“Trzaskowski has emerged as a talented and articulate participant in the campaign, but two weeks is little time to catch up on Duda,” the center said, noting that the Warsaw mayor was clearly not supported by the losing opposition candidates. in the first round.
“Two visions of Poland”
Duda promised to preserve the PiS government-driven popular social benefits, criticized LGBT rights and Jewish claims for compensation for assets confiscated or abandoned during the Holocaust.
“The upcoming elections are a clash of two Polish visions: white and red and rainbows,” Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro told the Polish news agency PAP on the last day of the campaign, citing the colors of the Polish flag and the symbol used by the LGBT community.
The government also attacked the German media, accused of bias during the elections, by publishing an article in the media company Ringier Axel Springer Group’s tabloid about Duda’s pardon by a pedophile.
Trzaskowski promises a completely different Poland.
He has said he will undo the controversial reforms of the judiciary that have pitted the country against Brussels.
Mr. Trzaskowski has also expressed his support for allowing same-sex civil partnerships in Poland, but, like Mr. Duda, he opposes allowing same-sex couples to adopt.
Trzaskowski’s victory could reduce PiS’s influence on Polish politics, and Duda’s victory would consolidate the party’s power.
“These elections will determine the fate of Poland in the near future,” said Adam Strzembosz, former president of the Supreme Court of Justice.
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