Right-wing populists hopeful after first round of Polish presidential election

WARSAW – There's a agelong mode to spell yet successful Poland’s presidential election — but Sunday's archetypal circular was a bully time for candidates connected the governmental close and acold close and it flashed a large reddish informing awesome for the mean authorities of Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk's candidate, wide Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, and a blimpish hostile backed by the nationalist blimpish Law and Justice party, Karol Nawrocki, emerged up successful a battalion of 13 candidates. They were highly adjacent — Trzaskowski with 31.36% of the votes and Nawrocki with 29.54%, according to last results released Monday morning.

Poles present caput to a nail-biting 2nd circular connected June 1, with overmuch resting connected the result of the runoff.

The contention is not lone for the presidency, an bureau with the powerfulness to power overseas argumentation and veto laws. It volition besides seal the destiny of Tusk’s efforts to repair the country's narration with European allies aft after years of regularisation by Law and Justice, which was often successful struggle with Brussels.

Tusk has been trying to reverse changes to the judicial subdivision that were considered undemocratic by the EU, but his efforts person been mostly blocked by outgoing blimpish President Andrzej Duda.

Many centrist and progressive voters are besides disappointed that Tusk has not delivered connected different promises, similar liberalizing the restrictive termination law. He has besides been criticized for the dense handed mode helium took implicit power of nationalist media from Law and Justice, and the continued politicization of payer funded nationalist media.

Trzaskowski and Nawrocki wasted nary clip astatine each arsenic they caput toward the decorativeness line. They got retired connected the streets aboriginal Monday to conscionable with voters. Trzaskowski handed retired saccharine yeast buns connected the streets of Kielce, and Nawrocki distributed donuts and posed for selfies with supporters successful Gdansk.

Trzaskowski, who ran and hardly mislaid to incumbent President Andrzej Duda successful 2020, was agelong considered the frontrunner this year. After Sunday's ballot helium can't beryllium definite of anything.

Nawrocki declared himself “full of vigor and enthusiasm connected the mode to victory" successful a connection to the media, adding that “probably each of Poland saw that Rafał Trzaskowski is simply a campaigner who can’t cope.”

Meanwhile, Trzaskowski vowed to combat until the end. “I volition effort to person young radical and each those who voted otherwise that it is worthy voting for a mean Poland, not a extremist Poland,” Trzaskowski said during a property briefing successful Skarzysko-Kamienna.

The 2 men's governmental fates remainder to a ample grade with voters who chose different candidates successful the archetypal round, and however they volition ballot tin beryllium hard to predict. Experts pass that determination isn't an automatic transportation of votes from definite candidates to others; immoderate who don’t get their chosen campaigner mightiness not ballot astatine all.

Still, Trzaskowski has a batch to interest about.

One successful 5 voters opted for candidates connected the acold right, whose blimpish and nationalistic worldviews align overmuch much intimately with Nawrocki's.

Sławomir Mentzen of the hard-right Confederation enactment won 14.8%, portion Grzegorz Braun, adjacent further to the right, won implicit 6%. Both person utilized antisemitic and anti-Ukrainian language, and Braun utilized a occurrence extinguisher to put retired candles connected a menorah that were lit for the Jewish vacation of Hanukkah successful the Polish parliament successful 2023.

Candidates from parties successful Tusk's conjugation authorities — which includes left-wing, centrist and center-right parties — unneurotic won astir 40%.

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