Polish Election: Opposition Set To Win Race, Potentially Signaling Political Shift

Poland's opposition parties are set to win the election race in the country, which could trigger a political shift in the country and the European Union.

The latter is where the current Law and Justice (PiS) party government has waged a war for the past eight years with Brussels over accusations that it is backsliding on the bloc's democratic rules. In an exit poll released after voting at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, PiS had 36.8% support.

Polish Election Results

The party was followed by the centrist Civic Coalition, which acquired 31.6% support, the center-right Third Way with 13% support, the Left with 8.6% support, and the far-right Confederation with 6.2% support. The latest poll was conducted by IPSOS and was shared with the country's three main television networks and is believed to have a 2% margin of error.

While the PiS party got first place in support, the victory is seen as a Pyrrhic win as the three leading opposition parties would have a majority of seats in the 460-member parliament, as per Politico.

Additionally, the recent elections in Poland have achieved a record % turnout rate of 73% based on the exit poll. The latest race results mark the PiS' most stunning defeat, as it has been in power since 2015.

The party quickly mobilized the full resources of the state to shore up enough support to win the election while having the backing of state media. PiS has been hobbled by a growing number of issues, including allegations that its officials were selling visas for bribes.

Additionally, the party struggles to address eight years of tensions and social conflict, including fights over abortion, the rule of law, grain imports from Ukraine, and less-than-stellar relations with the EU.

Fate of the Law and Justice Party

Former Polish Prime Minister and European Council President Donald Tusk led the opposition bloc. He and the PiS chairman and Poland's de facto leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, attempted to declare a victory on Sunday night, according to CNN.

However, the reality of the situation was that days of negotiations may happen in the near future until the make-up of the nation's new government becomes more clear. In a statement, Kaczynski told supporters that the exit polls gave them the fourth victory in the party's history in the parliamentary elections and the third one in a row.

He added that the question before them now is whether or not their success will be able to be transformed into another term of office of their government. Kaczynsky urged that they should have hope and know that regardless of whether they are in power, they will implement their project differently.

While running on separate tickets in the election, three opposition parties, the Civic Coalition, Third Way, and the New Left, had the same promises of seeking to oust Law and Justice and restore good ties with the European Union, said France24.