Tough-talking Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski of the socially conservative Law and Justice Party won Poland's presidential runoff, coming from behind after convincing older and poorer voters with his calls to preserve the social safety net.
With 91 percent of the votes counted from Sunday's runoff, Kaczynski led rival Donald Tusk of the pro-market Civic Platform party with 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent, according to the State Election Commission.
Kaczynki's victory clears the way for the start of coalition talks yesterday between the two right-of-center parties which are allies and have said they intend to form a government together after winning a combined majority in the Sept. 25 parliamentary election.
During the election campaign, Kaczynski vowed to root out former communists and fight political corruption, but sounded a conciliatory note as he claimed victory late on Sunday.
He urged Tusk's Civic Platform to finish work on a coalition government with Law and Justice, which is headed by his twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
"Poland needs wrongs to be accounted for, but even more Poland needs accord. I want to reinstate that accord," Kaczynski said.
"I want to now address my friends in Platform to ask them to quickly complete work on a new government," he said.
Tusk conceded defeat. "Today I must tell myself I did not make it," he told glum supporters at his election headquarters.
Tusk led the first round of presidential voting two weeks ago with 36 percent of the vote, with Kaczynski placing second with 33 percent. The runoff between the top two candidates was held because none of the 12 candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote.
In the runoff campaign, Kaczynski forged ahead as voters respon-ded to his warnings that free-market policies must not cut social welfare for the less fortunate.
Tusk won in the most prosperous, western regions of the country, while Kaczynski swept the poorer east, exit polls showed.
The mild-mannered Tusk made some wonder whether he was tough enough to be president, in contrast with the more aggressive Kaczynski, a populist who tried to stop a gay rights parade and issued Germany a bill for damage done during the World War II occupation.
In the last week of the campaign, Kaczynski won a key endorsement from anti-EU populist Andrzej Lepper of the left-wing Self-Defense party. Surveys showed that more than 80 percent of Lepper's supporters' votes went to Kaczynski.
Kaczynski's promises to stand up to Germany -- even though the two countries enjoy good relations -- appeared aimed at older voters who remember the war. His promises to keep pensions and social benefits apparently helped him win voters over 60 by a 61 percent to 39 percent margin, exit polls for TVN24 showed.
"He thinks about poor people, about retired people and children, and we are retired, that's why we voted for him," said Danuta Niemkowska, a 71-year-old retired teacher, after she and her husband voted at a school in Warsaw's riverside district.
Both candidates are right of center, but Tusk is more oriented toward market economics and favors a flat tax. Kaczynski supports tax cuts, but prefers that high earners pay more, giving tax breaks to those with large families.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in