Poland’s main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) has taken the top spot in Poland’s local government elections, an exit poll showed on Sunday.
PiS, which lost national elections last October, won 33.7 per cent of the vote, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) won 31.9 per cent, according to the poll conducted by the IPSOS organisation.
The centre-right Third Way party, part of Tusk’s ruling coalition, won 13.5% of the vote, ahead of the far-right opposition party Confederation with 7.5% and the Left, also part of Tusk’s coalition, with 6.5%.
Turnout was 51.5 per cent, compared to 54.9 per cent in the previous local elections in 2018. In the parliamentary elections in October, turnout was 74.4 per cent.
Tusk’s liberal-left coalition will govern most of Poland’s 16 regional assemblies, which are key bodies in managing tens of billions of EU funds.
PiS currently rules in six regions. Polish TVN estimates that KO has won in 10 regions, up from seven in 2018, with PiS leading in six.
Official results by region will be announced on Tuesday.
Brussels is closely monitoring the success of Tusk’s coalition ahead of June’s European Parliament elections, while pan-European opinion polls suggest the right-wing populists will perform well.
