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Tusk Leads Kaczynski in Polish Presidential Race
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Polish prime minister Donald Tusk is favoured over incumbent Lech Kaczynski to win the next presidential election, according to a poll by GfK Polonia published in Rzeczpospolita. 24 per cent of respondents would vote for Tusk in the next ballot, while 16 per cent would back Kaczynski.
Former justice minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz is in third place with 13 per cent. Support is much lower for independent Andrzej Olechowski, current deputy prime minister and economy minister Waldemar Pawlak, Right of the Republic (PR) leader Marek Jurek, Self-Defence of the Polish Republic (SRP) leader Andrzej Lepper, and Grzegorz Napieraski of the left-wing Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
In October 2007, Polish voters renewed the Diet, or lower house of Parliament. Final results gave the Civic Platform (PO) party 41.51 per cent of the vote and 209 seats, followed by Law and Justice Party (PiS) with 32.11 per cent and 166 seats. In November, the PO and the Peasant’s Party (PSL)—who together hold 240 seats in the 460-member Diet—agreed to form a coalition government.
In Poland, the definition of presidential powers declares that the head of state is the "guardian of Polish sovereignty and security" who "co-operates" with the government. Prime minister Tusk suggested in 2008 that president Kaczynski—whose twin brother Jaroslaw leads the opposition PiS—is overstepping his role.
On Nov. 20, PO deputy chairman Janusz Palikot said that the Tusk administration will not introduce any measures aimed at curbing the growing budget deficit any time soon, declaring, "There’s no way we’re going to undertake any far-reaching public finance reforms before the elections, because that would be political suicide."
The next presidential election should take place in 2010. If no candidate garners more than 50 per cent of all cast ballots, a run-off will be required to determine the winner.
Polling Data
Which of these candidates would you vote for in a presidential election?
|
Donald Tusk |
24% |
|
Lech Kaczynski |
16% |
|
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz |
13% |
|
Andrzej Olechowski |
5% |
|
Waldemar Pawlak |
3% |
|
Marek Jurek |
2% |
|
Andrzej Lepper |
2% |
|
Grzegorz Napieraski |
1% |
|
Other / Not sure |
34% |
Source: GfK Polonia / Rzeczpospolita
Methodology: Interviews to 1,000 Polish adults, conducted from Nov. 5 to Nov. 10, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.