UPDATE: Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party looked to have narrowly won a second term in power, according to preliminary results from Sunday’s parliamentary election, but fell short of the landslide victory it needs to overhaul the constitution.
In a surprise setback for the socially conservative but economically left-leaning party, PiS also appeared to have lost control of the less powerful upper house, the Senate, according to one of the opposition leaders, Katarzyna Lubnauer.
Final official results were not due until late on Monday, but the apparent reversal of fortunes for PiS – after initial partial results that pointed to it winning a clear majority – reflected the complexity of Poland’s electoral system.
Preliminary results with 99.5% of votes counted showed PiS winning 43.8% of votes, up from the 37.6% it won in 2015. But some analysts said this could yet translate into fewer than the 231 seats it would need for a majority in the Sejm lower house, an outcome that would force it to seek coalition allies.
Sources from both PiS and the main opposition grouping, the centrist Civic Coalition, agreed that the result for the Sejm was a close call.
“Senate won back. Thanks to the agreement of opposition parties, the opposition will have the majority in the Senate,” Lubnauer wrote on Twitter. If her tweet is confirmed, the opposition would be able to block or delay the adoption of legislation proposed by PiS and would also have a say on nominations to some of Poland’s highest institutions such as the civil rights ombudsman.
Overall, Sunday’s results highlighted increased political polarisation in Poland under PiS rule, with the liberal opposition scoring sweeping victories in some large cities where voters fret over the future of democratic standards in Poland.
Despite the uncertainty over the final results, PiS officials said the party would press on with reforms of the judiciary, which critics say amount to a politicisation of the courts. PiS says they are needed to make the system more efficient and fair.
There was no immediate reaction to the election results from the European Union, which has taken Poland to court over its past judicial reforms and has criticised some of its other policies.
Throughout the campaign, PiS told voters that business and cultural elites should be replaced with people who espouse patriotic values, to weed out what it says is a communist-era web of influence that prevents fair market competition.
Earlier: Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party easily won Sunday’s parliamentary election, taking 43.6 percent of the vote — enough for an absolute parliamentary majority, according exit polls released after voting ended at 9 p.m.
That was far ahead of the main opposition party, Civic Coalition, which took 27.4 percent. Further behind was the Left, a grouping of left-wing parties, with 11.9 percent, the conservative Polish Coalition with 9.6 percent, and the right-wing Confederation party with 6.4 percent.
According to an estimated seat distribution in the 460-member Sejm lower house of parliament, PiS would take 239 seats — enough for an absolute majority. The Civic Coalition would get 130, the Left 43, the Polish Coalition 34 and Confederation 13 seats. The German minority has one seat.
If that result holds when the votes are counted — with final results expected by Tuesday — PiS would have a similar hold on power that it has enjoyed over the previous four years, when it had 240 seats.
With that majority, PiS was able to take control of the country in 2015, pushing through deep reforms of the court system that occasionally violated the constitution and set off an ongoing fight with the European Commission. It also turned state television and radio into propaganda arms of the ruling party,
Via Politico
