Poland’s parliament speaker Szymon Hołownia announced that the country’s presidential election would take place on 18 May.
All major parties submitted their candidates at the end of 2024. If needed, a second round would be held on 1 June, Hołownia stated.
President Andrzej Duda, who is finishing his second term, cannot run for re-election, according to the constitution.
Two candidates, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski of the Civic Coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the head of the Public Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, are expected to contest in the second round.
Meanwhile, Hołownia is also running for president as the leader and founder of his Poland 2050 party. Last time he ran in 2019, but did not make it to the run-off.
Senator Magdalena Biejat and one of the leaders of the Confederation Liberty and Independence coalition, Sławomir Mentzen, are also running.
The new president will take office when Poland’s EU presidency ends in June, with Duda staying in office until then. When Warsaw assumed the presidency on 1 January, Duda did not attend the inauguration, prompting criticism from the government.
