Poland’s populist ruling party appeared to be on the brink of losing power, after an exit poll in a bitter and high-stakes national election predicted that the country’s opposition has the clearest path to forming its next government.
The poll projected that the Law and Justice party, known by its Polish acronym PiS, would win the most seats after Sunday’s vote.
But it would fall some way short of a parliamentary majority, and the opposition bloc – led by former Polish prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk – appeared on course to gain control if it struck deals with smaller parties.
Record numbers of voters turned out to cast their ballots, the National Electoral Commission said on Monday, underscoring the pivotal importance of this election. The exit poll suggested that turnout was 73%, the highest in any Polish parliamentary vote.
Both Tusk and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the PiS chairman and Poland’s de facto leader, attempted to declare victory on Sunday night. In reality, however, days of negotiations may lie ahead until the make-up of the country’s new government becomes clear.
“The exit poll results give us the fourth victory in the history of our party in the parliamentary elections and the third victory in a row; this is a great success of our formation and our project for Poland,” Kaczynski told supporters.
Source: cnn.com
