Polish president runner-up in first round vote, exit poll shows

Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski was pushed into a surprise second place by a conservative challenger in Sunday's presidential election, and must now face him in a run-off on May 24th, an exit poll showed.

The exit poll, by Ipsos, put Mr Komorowski on 32.2 per cent of the vote, behind conservative Andrzej Duda on 34.8 per cent. Opinion polls before Sunday showed the incumbent with a comfortable lead.

Pawel Kukiz, a rock musician, was third on 20.3 per cent, the exit poll showed. The outcome of the run-off is likely to hinge on which candidate inherits votes from Kukiz. He has endorsed allies of Mr Komorowski in past elections.

Even if Mr Komorowski does emerge the eventual winner, his first-round defeat will deliver a blow to prime minister Ewa Kopacz, who is closely aligned with the president.

Her centre-right government faces a tightly-fought race for another term later this year, and will be challenged by the same conservative opposition Law and Justice party represented by Mr Duda.

“Let’s not have any illusions. We face hard work, a hard fight, but I am convinced that we are also facing victory,” Mr Komorowski told supporters who had gathered at the national stadium in Warsaw late on Sunday.

In Poland, the prime minister has the most powers, but the president wields clout as head of the armed forces, has a say in foreign policy and the power to veto legislation.

Mr Komorowski (62) has campaigned on a platform that he is a safe pair of hands on national security. That message appealed to voters nervous that after Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, Poland could become the next target.

Mr Duda (42) has campaigned on a promise to lower the retirement age and has warned that if Poland adopts the euro currency, something Mr Komorowski has said he wants eventually to happen, the prices of goods in shops will go up.

The first official results are not expected before late on Monday. If those results show no candidate won more than 50 per cent, the two with the biggest share of the vote will compete in a second round on May 24th, under Polish law. – (Reuters)