The centrist pro-European opposition led by Donald Tusk claims victory

If the results are confirmed, the elections will end the eight-year government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice Party (PiS). A centrist pro-European opposition won Poland’s parliamentary election on Sunday, October 15, according to polls from polls. The three opposition parties, the Civic Alliance (KO), the Christian Democrats of the Third Way and the Left, combined to win 248 seats out of 460 representatives, compared to 212 for PiS and the Federation (far right).

Donald Tusk, the head of the alliance, announced that he had won. “Poland won, democracy won, we kicked them out of power (…) it’s the end of this bad period, it’s the end of the PiS regime”, he announced soon after the survey was released. The 66-year-old was Prime Minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014 and President of the Council of Europe between 2014 and 2019.

He promised to restore good relations with the European Union and block European funds frozen by Brussels due to controversies during the PiS government’s two terms. He also promised to liberalize abortion rights, a major point of disagreement with the PiS government, which emphasizes Catholic values.

A record participation rate

For his part, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of PiS, welcomed the relative success of his movement with 200 parliamentary seats, but allows it to form a government without a majority. “Whether we are in power or in opposition, (…) we will not allow Poland to be betrayed” However, he declared.

According to political scientist and president of Collegium Civitas University, Stanislav Mocek, now “An opportunity to form an opposition government.” “I think this is really the end of the PiS government (…) It’s an opportunity to rebuild our position above all in Europe”. Turnout was high, with the exit poll at 72.9%, a record since the fall of communism in 1989.