Three opposition parties that vowed to restore democratic standards in Poland together won over 54 per cent of the votes in the nation’s weekend parliamentary election, putting them in a position to take power, according to a complete ballot count reported Tuesday.
The conservative Law and Justice party, which has governed Poland for eight years, won slightly over 35 per cent of the votes, making it the single party with the most votes but PiS and its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski lost their majority in parliament.
Turnout was nearly 75%, a record that surpassed the 63% turnout of 1989, a vote that triggered the collapse of the oppressive Soviet-backed communist system.
Law and Justice had been taking the country on an illiberal path, taking control of courts in a manner that violated the country’s own constitution. The party politicized state institutions, including taxpayer-funded public media which it used as a crude propaganda tool to praise itself and vilify opponents.
The result was a huge victory for Donald Tusk, the head of the largest opposition group, Civic Coalition. He appeared likely to return to his past role as Polish prime minister, a job he held from 2007-14. He also served as the European Council president, a top job in the bloc, from 2014-19.
