Elections in Poland/ The opposition coalition to victory, leads with the majority of votes

2023-10-16 17:20:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Elections in Poland/ The opposition coalition to victory, leads with the

Monday morning found Poland facing political uncertainty after a large turnout in the previous day's polls, which saw opposition parties win a combined majority.

"I expect women to have more rights, for them to feel safer, to be more valued in society. I also hope that nepotism will end, for example in state and other companies", says 43-year-old Iga Frackiewicz.

But the preliminary results show that the ruling conservative party has received more votes than any other party, while it has been stated that it will try to continue governing the country.

According to a poll published on Monday morning by Ipsos, the ruling nationalists have received 36.6% of the vote, while the opposition Civic Coalition, led by Donald Tusk, is in second place with 31% of the vote.

"I have been dealing with politics and sports for years. But I have never been so happy in my life with this second place. Poland has won. Democracy has won. We removed them (PiS) from power," Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk said on Sunday night.

In order for a government to pass laws, it needs at least 231 seats in the 460-member lower house of parliament. According to polling agency Ipsos, Jaroslaw Kaczynski's ruling Law and Justice party appears to have taken 198 seats, a sharp drop from the current slim majority it has held for the past eight years.

"We have difficult days ahead of us, days of various kinds of tension. But this final will show the form of continuation of our program, everything we have done for Poland", said the leader of the Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

Even with the far-right party, Confederation, the ruling party would not have a majority. However, the campaign manager of the Law and Justice party said in a radio interview on Monday morning that his party won and will try to form a government led by current Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Polls with Poles after the vote show that the opposition parties got 248 seats in the parliament, which means the majority. Election officials say the official result will be announced on Tuesday.

President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the ruling Law and Justice party, must convene the first session of the new parliament within 30 days and appoint a candidate for prime minister to try to form a government. Meanwhile, the current government will have a caretaker role./ VOA