Opposition wins Polish election, according to exit poll, reports Politico. es October 16, 2023
If vote counting confirms the result, it would mark a dramatic change of direction after a very hard-fought election campaign, the paper’s Jan Cienski reports.
Turnout was 73 %, according to the exit poll — a record.
Poland’s opposition parties look like they’ve won a solid victory in the country’s general election — and if the result holds it signals a radical change both in Poland and in the EU, where the current Law and Justice (PiS) party government has warred for eight years with Brussels over accusations it has been backsliding on the bloc’s democratic rules.
According to an updated exit poll released today that takes into account early vote counting, PiS had 36.6 % support, followed by the centrist Civic Coalition with 31 %, the centre-right Third Way with 13.5 %, the Left with 8.6 % and the far-right Confederation with 6.4 %. In 2019, PiS won 43.6 % of the vote. The poll was conducted by IPSOS and was shared with Poland’s three main television networks.
Although Law and Justice party came first in terms of support, it is a Pyrrhic victory as the three leading opposition parties would have a majority of seats in the 460-member parliament.
- Le Monde, 16/10/23 Tusk says opposition parties have enough votes to form govt
- Eurotopics, 16/10/23 Press roundup incl Poland and what EU should do about Middle East violence