Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk
Voter turnout 55.3% up from 40.6% the last time
Posted on 10/21/2007 2:29:46 PM PDT by wolf78
I'm surprised nobody has posted this before, so here are the first exit polls / projections:
Civic Platform - PO: 44.2% Law and Justice - PiS: 31.3% Left and Democrats - LiD: 12.2% Polish People's Party / Peasant Party - PSL: 7.9%
Unfortunately, the link is in Polish, so only those who speak it need to click!
ALLELUIA! :-)))
Sounds like a very Polish name.../sarc
Who the hell is “Kaczynki”?
typo :)
@ Verdelet:
Ooops..., my bad ;)
Now that we have some Polish Freepers on board maybe you could provide us with some additional info, e.g. what the next coalition might look like. Some news channels say that a PO-PSL government looks like the most likely option? What is the role of the President after the election?
@ lizol:
Why am I not surprised about that reaction? *LOL. PO is “your” party, right? I guess congratulations are in order then.
Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has admitted defeat in Poland's general election, after exit polls predicted victory for the Civic Platform party.
Mr Kaczynski said his conservative Law and Justice Party had "failed against a wide front" after it polled about 31%, while its centre-right rival had 44%.
The election was called two years early after Mr Kaczynski's coalition collapsed over a corruption probe.
Turnout seemed substantially higher than the 12-year low in the 2005 poll.
The prime minister's twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, is Poland's president.
The Law and Justice Party (PiS) has pursued former communists and adopted a sceptical approach to the European Union, while Civic Platform (PO) has promised a more business-friendly administration with closer ties to Europe, correspondents say.
Learning lesson
The turnout of 55% was the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.
Most polling stations closed at 2000 (1800 GMT), with a handful delaying closure after opening late for technical reasons, and others running out of ballot papers.
Many Poles are polarised by the prime minister's policies
Voters were electing members of 460-seat lower house, the Sejm, and the 100-seat Senate.
Mr Kaczynski voted in the early afternoon in Warsaw, chatting with other voters as he queued.
"We have to accept the will of the voters, that's obvious," he said after voting, according to Reuters news agency.
"We won't get angry at the people and lessons from this campaign will be learned."
His rival, Mr Tusk, also cast his vote in the capital city.
"Of course I expect to win, but I also know perfectly well that it will not be easy and the battle goes on until the last minute," he was quoted as saying.
Democratic disillusion
Poles have became disillusioned with democracy following a succession of unhappy coalition governments, says the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw.
The country is polarised over the figure of the 58-year-old prime minister, who commands both strong support and deep opposition, says our correspondent.
He has given extra power to anti-corruption agencies and purged former communists, while promoting an assertive foreign policy and traditional Catholic values.
Among his supporters, Andrzej Sulkowski said he voted for Law and Justice "because this party is telling the truth and doing something".
"In their two years of government they did what they could," he told the Associated Press news agency.
But one of Mr Tusk's supporters, Jan Zawisz, said he "didn't like being talked down to for the last two years".
Nothing else than lesser evil. Usual crap, not any “free market”.
What’s the Civic Platform’s position on the AMD issue? Are they with the USA or with “old” Europe with regard to this problem?
HIP HIP HURRAY!
It was about time. :) Poland deserved much better than those potatoes.
As far as I know he needs a coalition with the farmer’s party PSL. Furthermore president Lech Kaczynski is able to veto all laws that Tusk is bringing into the Sejm. To outvote the president it will take 3/5 of the votes in the parliament. We all know that Lech Kaczynski is stubborn enough to block Poland for the rest of his reign.
I am a little bit afraid of the possibility that the necessary reforms in Poland are bottled up because of obstruction. We have a quite simular situation here in Germany. Merkel is unable to do some fundamental reforms because of the SPD.
During the election campaign they stated, that the AMD project should be coherent with NATO plans
Actually - as far as we’ve had a chance to experience Kaczynski’s presidency - I won’t be surprised if he vetoes every act passed by the new parliament - one by one.
For example - during the time of Poland’s new independence (since 1989) it has never happened, that the President declined acceptance of a motion of the National Council of Judiciary to nominate a new judge. A candidate for this position must undergo a long procedure (training, probation, evaluation by the superiors, by the Ministry of Justice and by the National Council of Judiciary). So - actually - so far the presidential nomination actually a symbol - just like nomination of the Prime Ministers or the members of government.
But not under President Kaczynski.
Recently he refused to accept about 20 nominations - without any explanations, arguments. Just “because”.
And I’m talking about judges of some low rank courts (like Amtsgericht in Germany) not anything like the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Tribunal.
So - if he didn’t object to do something like that - then imagine what the rule of PO is going to look like.
Anyway, congratulations. I´m relieved that the K-style didn´t find the appreciation of the voters, and that many more people went to the ballots. That´ll strengthen your democracy.
ahem... your business.
Germans should keep out of inner polish afairs....
I shouldn’t comment this.
Say isn’t the sky a little more blue then usual ?
Oh my... I can try to celebrate in silence all I want when there’s diplomates like you :)
Diplomacy is not everything. ;)
Will the Civic Platform party be able to force withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq or will President Kaczynski be able to continue Poland’s deployment?
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