According to the exit polls, the coalition won 248 of 460 seats, compared to 212 seats for PiS and the federal government combined.
If these results are confirmed, these elections would end the eight-year reign of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party. According to polls, the centrist pro-European opposition won the parliamentary elections in Poland on Sunday October 15th. The three opposition parties, the Civic Coalition (KO), the Third Way Christian Democrats and the Left, won a combined 248 seats out of 460 MPs, compared to 212 seats for the PiS and the Confederation (far right) combined.
Donald Tusk, head of the coalition, himself claimed victory. “Poland has won, democracy has won, we have driven them from power (…) it is the end of this bad time, it is the end of the rule of the PiS,” he declared immediately after the polls were published. The 66-year-old was Polish Prime Minister from 2007 to 2014 and President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019.
He promised to restore good relations with the European Union and release European funds frozen by Brussels due to disputes during the PiS government’s two terms in office. He also promised to liberalize abortion rights, a key point of contention with the PiS government, which emphasized Catholic values.
A record participation rate
For his part, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski welcomed the relative success of his movement, which will have 200 parliamentary seats but does not have a majority that would allow it to form a government. “Whether we are in power or in opposition, (…) we will not allow Poland to be betrayed,” he said.
According to Stanislaw Mocek, political scientist and president of the University Collegium Civitas, there is now “a chance for the formation of an opposition government.” “I think it is actually the end of the PiS government (…) It is an opportunity for us to rebuild our position, especially in Europe.” Voter turnout was high and, according to the election survey, was 72.9% , a record since the fall of communism in 1989.