According to exit polls, the coalition won 248 seats out of 460, compared to 212 seats for PiS and the Confederation combined.
If these results are confirmed, these elections will put an end to the eight years of government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice party (PiS). According to polls coming out of the polls, the centrist pro-European opposition won the legislative elections in Poland on Sunday October 15. The three opposition parties, the Civic Coalition (KO), the Christian Democrats of the Third Way and the Left, together won 248 seats of 460 deputies, compared to 212 seats for the PiS and the Confederation (far right) combined.
Donald Tusk, head of the coalition, himself claimed victory. “Poland won, democracy won, we chased them out of power (…) it’s the end of this bad period, it’s the end of PiS rule”, he declared, immediately after the publication of the polls. Aged 66, he was Prime Minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014 and President of the European Council between 2014 and 2019.
He promised to restore good relations with the European Union and unblock European funds frozen by Brussels due to disputes that arose during the PiS government’s two terms. He also pledged to liberalize the right to abortion, a major point of disagreement with the PiS government which emphasized Catholic values.
A record participation rate
For his part, the leader of PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, welcomed the relative success of his movement which will have 200 parliamentary seats, but without a majority allowing it to form a government. “Whether we are in power or in opposition, (…) we will not allow Poland to be betrayed,” however, he declared.
According to Stanislaw Mocek, political scientist and president of Collegium Civitas University, there are now “a chance for an opposition government to emerge.” “I think this is actually the end of the PiS government (…) It’s a chance for us to rebuild our position, above all in Europe”. Turnout was high, with the exit poll putting it at 72.9%, a record since the fall of communism in 1989.