Polish opposition wins parliamentary majority in tight vote

By : AFP

Date: 17 October 2023 5:32pm WAT

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Law and Justice party (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski (C) and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (3L) of the Law and Justice party react with supporters at the party's headquarters in Warsaw, Poland on October 15, 2023, after the presentation of the first exit poll results of the country's parliamentary elections. (Photo by Wojtek Radwanski / AFP)

Polish pro-EU opposition parties have won a parliamentary majority in a tight general election, the poll commission said Tuesday announcing complete results.
[ad]
The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which has been ruling for the last eight years, emerged first with 35.38 percent of the vote but is unlikely to form a majority.

The liberal Civic Coalition bloc finished second at 30.7 percent, but together with two minor parties, Third Way and Left, secured a majority of 248 lawmakers in the 460-seat parliament’s lower chamber, the national poll commission said.

The opposition also has a majority in the upper house, securing 66 of the 100 seats in the Senate.
[ad]
Sunday’s vote saw the highest turnout since the fall of Communism, with more than 74 percent eligible voters casting ballots.

Nearly 41 percent took part in a controversial referendum on migration staged by the ruling Eurosceptics on election day, which was boycotted by the opposition.