WARSAW (AP) — Poland's local and regional elections over the weekend failed to give Prime Minister Donald Tusk the sweeping victory he had hoped for in his effort to overturn eight years of rule by a populist party that has been criticized by the European Union for democratic norms. Was accused of destroying.
Exit polls released after polls closed Sunday night show Tusk's centrist civic coalition performed well in big cities, where it is popular among social liberals. But the opposition Law and Justice Party won more votes in elections for the country's 16 regional assemblies and maintained its dominance in conservative rural areas of eastern Poland.
The elections were a test for Tusk four months after returning to power as prime minister, a post he previously held from 2007-2014.
He returned to office last year promising to restore judicial independence and democratic guardrails after the EU cut billions of euros of funding to Poland following changes to the judiciary.Funding is being restored but Tusk still faces a tough road ahead. New laws must be passed to reverse several judicial changes and his pledge to liberalize the country's strict abortion law is being blocked by conservatives within his ruling coalition.
Voting results on Sunday showed Poland is deeply divided and Tusk faces a strong opponent in the conservative Law and Justice party and its 74-year-old leader Jaroslaw Kaczyński.
After losing power at the national level last year, some people rejected Law and Justice. But it became clear on Monday that the party, which ruled from 2015-2023, remains a force to be reckoned with, even if it has lost some of the gains it made during its time in power.This includes his control over the public media, a tool he has used for years to promote the party. In one of its earliest moves, Tusk's government removed its opponents' political control over taxpayer-funded media.
According to Ipsos' exit poll, Law and Justice got 33.7 percent votes and Tusk Civic Coalition got 31.9 percent votes. The State Election Committee was counting the votes even on Monday.
Tusk also has reasons to be happy after the election.His allies won key mayoral roles, including in the capital. Warsaw Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski celebrated a sweeping re-election victory on Sunday with almost 60 percent of the vote. This puts him in a strong position to run for president next year, when President Andrzej Duda will serve his second and final term. Trzaskowski, now 52, narrowly lost to Duda in the 2020 presidential race.
Tusk's party, the Civic Coalition, was also projected to increase its control over the legislatures of 16 provinces in the country.The parties in his national ruling coalition – which includes the Third Way and the Left – together account for about 52 percent.
Third Way was projected to get 13.5 percent, a solid result for an electoral group that includes an agrarian party and is conservative on social issues. But it was a very poor showing for the Left, which was estimated to be only 6.8 percent.
Tusk said in a post on the social platform But he expressed concern about "the failure of democratization, especially among young people, in the east and rural areas".
Exit polls released after polls closed Sunday night show Tusk's centrist civic coalition performed well in big cities, where it is popular among social liberals. But the opposition Law and Justice Party won more votes in elections for the country's 16 regional assemblies and maintained its dominance in conservative rural areas of eastern Poland.
The elections were a test for Tusk four months after returning to power as prime minister, a post he previously held from 2007-2014.
He returned to office last year promising to restore judicial independence and democratic guardrails after the EU cut billions of euros of funding to Poland following changes to the judiciary.Funding is being restored but Tusk still faces a tough road ahead. New laws must be passed to reverse several judicial changes and his pledge to liberalize the country's strict abortion law is being blocked by conservatives within his ruling coalition.
Voting results on Sunday showed Poland is deeply divided and Tusk faces a strong opponent in the conservative Law and Justice party and its 74-year-old leader Jaroslaw Kaczyński.
After losing power at the national level last year, some people rejected Law and Justice. But it became clear on Monday that the party, which ruled from 2015-2023, remains a force to be reckoned with, even if it has lost some of the gains it made during its time in power.This includes his control over the public media, a tool he has used for years to promote the party. In one of its earliest moves, Tusk's government removed its opponents' political control over taxpayer-funded media.
According to Ipsos' exit poll, Law and Justice got 33.7 percent votes and Tusk Civic Coalition got 31.9 percent votes. The State Election Committee was counting the votes even on Monday.
Tusk also has reasons to be happy after the election.His allies won key mayoral roles, including in the capital. Warsaw Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski celebrated a sweeping re-election victory on Sunday with almost 60 percent of the vote. This puts him in a strong position to run for president next year, when President Andrzej Duda will serve his second and final term. Trzaskowski, now 52, narrowly lost to Duda in the 2020 presidential race.
Tusk's party, the Civic Coalition, was also projected to increase its control over the legislatures of 16 provinces in the country.The parties in his national ruling coalition – which includes the Third Way and the Left – together account for about 52 percent.
Third Way was projected to get 13.5 percent, a solid result for an electoral group that includes an agrarian party and is conservative on social issues. But it was a very poor showing for the Left, which was estimated to be only 6.8 percent.
Tusk said in a post on the social platform But he expressed concern about "the failure of democratization, especially among young people, in the east and rural areas".
