Parliament: Final result after Poland election: Opposition gains majority

Three opposition parties in Poland could form a new government in the future and bring the country back on a pro-European and democratic path. According to the official final result, the opposition three-party alliance won a clear majority of seats in the parliamentary election on Sunday. The election commission in Warsaw announced this on Tuesday after all votes were counted. The previously ruling national-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) will once again be the strongest force in the new parliament, but will not achieve an absolute majority.

The next step now lies with President Andrzej Duda. He must give an order to form a government.

A possible change of power in Warsaw would also bring about a change in Polish foreign policy. The national conservative PiS, which has been in power since 2015, is in constant conflict with the EU in Brussels over a controversial judicial reform. And the relationship with Berlin is at a low point because of their demands for world war reparations amounting to 1.3 trillion euros. The three opposition parties, which want to join forces under the leadership of former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, stand for more cooperation with the EU and a more conciliatory policy towards Germany.

30.7 percent voted for Tusk’s opposition alliance, the liberal-conservative Citizens’ Coalition (KO), making it the second strongest force. The KO is planning a government coalition with the Christian-conservative Third Way (14.4 percent) and the left-wing alliance Lewica (8.61 percent). The three-party alliance has 248 of the total 460 seats and therefore has a majority of the mandates.

According to the electoral commission, the PiS received 35.38 percent of the vote and, with 194 members, will be the strongest force in the new parliament. However, it would be dependent on a coalition partner for a government majority, for which only the ultra-right Konfederacja would be considered. But it only got 7.16 percent and 18 seats – that’s not enough for a majority.

Voter turnout was more than 70 percent

The opposition also won the majority of seats in the Senate, the less important second chamber of parliament. The “Senate Pact” alliance, which also includes independent candidates alongside the KO, the Third Way and the left-wing Lewica alliance, won 66 seats, with the PiS accounting for the remaining 34.

Voter turnout was 74.38 percent – the highest since the end of communism in 1989.

The referendum, in which the PiS government wanted to vote on EU migration policy alongside the election, turned out to be a flop. According to the information, 40.9 percent of those eligible to vote took part in the referendum. It is therefore not binding because the quorum of at least 51 percent was missed.

“The PiS’s attempts to play with stacked cards in the election campaign have had their revenge,” said sociologist Jaroslaw Flis to the Onet.pl portal. He also called the referendum part of the manipulation attempts by the national conservatives to try to stay in power. The PiS had hoped to use this to mobilize its voters.

In a next step, President Andrzej Duda must now convene the constituent session of the new parliament within 30 days of the election and give a politician the task of forming a government. It is political custom in Poland, but not mandatory, that a representative of the strongest political camp receives this assignment. That’s why observers in Warsaw assume that Duda, who is close to the national conservatives, will initially give the job to a PiS politician. This could delay the process of forming a government by several weeks.

“It is clear that the PiS wants to delay the change of power for as long as possible and is throwing sticks between our legs,” Krzysztof Gawkowski from Lewica told the radio station tok.fm.