Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s right-wing opposition candidate, narrowly won the second spherical of voting within the nation’s presidential election on Sunday, in keeping with the Nationwide Electoral Fee (NEC).
Right here is all it’s essential know concerning the outcomes:
Who received the presidential election in Poland?
Nawrocki received with 50.89 % of the votes, the NEC web site up to date early on Monday.
He defeated liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who secured 49.11 % of the vote.
The end result was a shock as a result of exit polls had projected a slender loss for Nawrocki.
What occurred within the first spherical of the election?
The first round happened on Could 18, the place, as anticipated, not one of the 13 presidential candidates might handle to achieve a 50 % threshold.
Trzaskowski received 31.4 % of the vote, whereas Nawrocki acquired 29.5 %. As the highest two candidates, Nawrocki and Trzaskowski proceeded to the run-off.
Who’s Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s new president?
Nawrocki, 42, is a conservative historian and novice boxer.
He contested as an unbiased candidate, backed by the outgoing president, Andrzej Duda’s Legislation and Justice (PiS), Poland’s major opposition social gathering.
The newly elected president’s tutorial work, as a historian, centred on anti-communist resistance. In the mean time, he runs the Institute of Nationwide Remembrance, a Warsaw-based government-funded analysis institute that research the historical past of Poland throughout World Warfare II and the interval of communism till 1990.
On the institute, Nawrocki has eliminated Soviet memorials, upsetting Russia.
He administered the Museum of the Second World Warfare within the Polish metropolis of Gdansk from 2017 to 2021.
Nawrocki has had his share of controversies. In 2018, he printed a ebook a couple of infamous gangster below the pseudonym “Tadeusz Batyr”. In public feedback, Nawrocki and Batyr praised one another, with out revealing they had been the identical particular person.
United States President Donald Trump’s administration threw its weight behind Nawrocki within the Polish election. The US group Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) held its first assembly in Poland on Could 27. “We’d like you to elect the correct chief,” US Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned through the CPAC occasion.
Calling Trzaskowski “an absolute practice wreck of a frontrunner”, Noem mentioned, “I simply had the chance to satisfy with Karol and hear: he must be the following president of Poland. Do you perceive me?”
How did Nawrocki win?
Specialists say the consistency of Nawrocki’s messaging on the marketing campaign path might have earned him his win.
“Folks select somebody they see as sturdy, clear, and constant,” Liliana Smiech, chairwoman of the Basis Council at Warsaw Institute, a Polish nonprofit assume tank specialising in geopolitics and worldwide affairs, informed Al Jazeera.
“Even with the accusations towards him, voters most popular his firmness over Trzaskowski’s fixed rebranding. Trzaskowski tried to be every part to everybody and ended up convincing nobody. Nawrocki appears like somebody who can deal with stress. He grew to become the president for troublesome instances.”
Not like Trzaskowski, Smiech mentioned, Nawrocki “didn’t attempt to please everybody”.
But he managed to please sufficient voters to win.
What’s the significance of Nawrocki’s win?
Many of the energy in Poland rests within the arms of the prime minister. The incumbent, Donald Tusk, leads a centre-right coalition authorities, and Trzaskowski was the ruling alliance’s candidate.
Nawrocki has been deeply vital of the Tusk administration. The president has the power to veto laws and affect army and international coverage choices.
On the marketing campaign path, Nawrocki promised to decrease taxes and pull Poland out of the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, an settlement on new guidelines for managing migration and setting a standard asylum system; and the European Inexperienced Deal, which units benchmarks for environmental safety for the EU, similar to the whole cessation of internet emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Like different candidates, together with Trzaskowski, Nawrocki known as for Poland to spend as much as 5 % of its gross home product (GDP) on defence. Poland spent 3.8 % of its GDP on army expenditure in 2023, in keeping with World Financial institution knowledge.
“Some anticipated a wave of help for the left or liberal facet, particularly amongst younger individuals. That didn’t occur. Nawrocki received within the 18-39 age group,” Smiech mentioned.
“It’s a transparent message: individuals nonetheless care about sovereignty, custom, and powerful management. Even youthful voters are usually not shopping for into the concept of a ‘new progressive Poland’.”
What had been the important thing points within the Polish election?
The Russia-Ukraine warfare, which started in February 2022, is a regarding problem for the Poles, who’re afraid of a spillover of Russian aggression to Poland on account of its proximity to Ukraine.
Whereas Poland initially threw its full help behind Ukraine, tensions have grown between Poland and Ukraine.
Nawrocki is opposed to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO and the EU.
But, on the similar time, Poland and Nawrocki stay deeply suspicious of Russia.
On Could 12, the Polish Ministry of International Affairs said an investigation had revealed that Russian intelligence businesses had orchestrated a large hearth at a procuring centre in Warsaw in Could 2024. This is the reason a number of candidates on this election proposed elevating the defence finances to five % of the GDP.
Abortion is a key problem in Poland, which has a number of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. In August 2024, Prime Minister Tusk acknowledged that he didn’t have sufficient backing from parliament to ship on considered one of his key marketing campaign guarantees and alter the abortion regulation. PiS, which backed Nawrocki, is against any legalisation of abortion.
Different points included financial issues about taxes, housing prices and the state of public transport.
What’s subsequent?
Nawrocki is predicted to be sworn in on August 6.
Smeich mentioned Nawrocki might want to show that he’s not simply good at campaigning, but in addition at governing.
“Expectations are excessive. Folks need somebody who will defend Poland’s pursuits, keep agency below stress, and never give in to media or international affect. He’s beginning his time period in a tricky second — precisely the sort of second he was elected for.”
