Poland election: Tusk's opposition seeks to take control following crucial vote

 Poland election: Tusk's opposition seeks to take control following crucial vote

In Poland's general election, opposition parties appear to have garnered enough support to unseat the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which is a right-wing populist party.

With more than 99% of the ballots in, Donald Tusk's liberal Civic Coalition party trailed PiS with 30.48% to 35.64%.

The likelihood that Mr. Tusk can now put together a large alliance has increased.

That would put an end to Jaroslaw Kaczynski's eight-year reign as leader of the PiS.

The final results will be announced on Tuesday by the National Electoral Commission. Even while it is anticipated that the winning party will be given the opportunity to form a government, Mr. Kaczynski will fall far short of the 231 seats required to build a majority in the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

A collaboration with the far-right Confederation would leave the socially conservative PiS 20 seats short of the necessary number, according to a final exit poll released on Monday.

On Sunday night, Donald Tusk said, "This is the end of the bad times, this is the end of the PiS government."

Poles had already been forewarned by the opposition that this was their "last chance" to defend democracy. The greatest voter turnout since the fall of communism in 1989, according to the National Election Commission, was 74%.

The 66-year-old Mr. Tusk declared to a big group of euphoric supporters in Warsaw that "Poland won, democracy has won."

With the center-right Third Way, which witnessed a spike in support with about 14.4% of the vote, and the New Left, who received about 8.5% of the vote, his Civic Coalition will attempt to establish a government. With 249 seats in the 460-seat parliament according to the final exit poll, they would easily win a majority between them.

On the anticipation of a new government, Poland's stock market increased by more than 6%, and the Zloty, its currency, also increased.

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On Sunday evening, Mr. Kaczynski told voters that he was uncertain if the party's "success will be able to be turned into another term in power."

International observers stated on Monday that while parties were allowed to openly campaign before the vote on Sunday, PiS had a "clear advantage" due to skewed state media coverage and the misappropriation of public funds.

On election night, State TV showed Mr. Kaczynski's speech to his supporters in its entirety, but gave his main opponent very little airtime.

Voters lined up long into the night in Warsaw and Krakow and into the early hours of the morning in Wroclaw despite the fact that polls on Sunday closed at 21:00 local time.

According to pollster Ipsos, voters between the ages of 18 and 29 outnumbered voters over the age of 60.

Since taking office in 2015, Law and Justice has placed a strong focus on Catholic family values, raised the minimum wage, and increased payments for pensioners and child support.

Additionally, it has banned almost all abortions starting in 2021 and has been accused of politicking the system by appointing justices who support the ruling party to the highest courts.

Mr. Tusk has committed to strengthen ties with the EU and release €36 billion (£30 billion) in Covid pandemic recovery funds that have been held hostage because to a dispute over the PiS judicial changes. His alliance has also committed to loosen the restrictions on abortion.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Poland has also been a steadfast ally of that country and has taken in a million refugees.

Although PiS leaders did appear to be wavering in recent weeks, this was viewed as a ploy to win over far-right voters. Whoever forms Poland's next administration is expected to continue the country's support for its neighbor.

President Andrzej Duda, a PiS friend, stated that the winning party would be given the first opportunity to build a coalition because that is the Polish tradition, which may delay the formation of a new government in Poland until December.

The Sejm would then nominate a candidate who would also try to establish a coalition and win a confidence vote in the event that the PiS candidate selected by the president were to lose a vote of confidence in the legislature.

Even if they could have to wait a few weeks for the chance to build a coalition, Mr. Tusk and his allies might begin negotiations as early as this week.