WARSAW, May 12. /TASS/. Poland is bound to have a runoff presidential election, as none of the candidates running for presidency managed to 50% of the votes, which is necessary for an indisputable victory, in the first round on May 10, suggests the data published by the country's state election commission.
The incumbent President, Bronislaw Komorowski, received 33.77% votes. He is currently holding the second ranking, with Andrej Duda, a candidate from the opposition Law and Justice party, being ahead of him with 34.76% votes.
Western commentators say in this connection that Duda is a nationalist and "no fan of the European Union".
Self-nominated candidate Pawel Kukiz, who is a musician and a social activist, received a surprise 20.8% votes. The other eight candidates did not get over the symbolic 5% barrier.
The only female candidate, Magdalena Ogurek, who called for a bettering of relations with Russia, among other things, received 2.38% votes.
The far-right candidate Janusz Korwin-Mikke got 3.26%.
The state election commission said the voter turnout at the polls was 48.96%.
Change of favorite at presidential election not meaning anything
Change of favorite after the first round of the presidential election in Poland where the incumbent President, Bronislaw Komorowski turned up second and gave way to the nationalistic oppositionist Andrzej Duda does not mean at all that the latter man will mean in the runoff, Polish political analysts said commenting on the outcome of the May 10 voting.
"One percent in Polish politics doesn’t weigh really much," said Dr. Rafal Fedoruk, pointing at the difference of slightly more than 1% in the number of votes received by Komorowski and Duda. "But it’s also true that runoffs have often brought about shocking and quite unexpected results in our part of Europe."
He said the runoff would see a competition between the representatives of two largest political forces that had been leading in Polish politics in the previous ten years.
"President Komorowski has big problems and he will have to fight tough if he aspires to a victory in the runoff," political scientist Antoni Dubiec said.
"I still believe that nothing is predestined, as the roles have changed and Duda is the favorite now while Kororowski is struggling for survival," he said.
Analysts point out the big influence that supporters of the independent candidate Pawel Kukiz, who got a surprise 20.8%, may exert on the outcome of the runoff. However when a reporter asked him whom he was ready to support in the runoff, Kukiz said briefly: "No one".
"It’s really difficult to say who has more chances now," researcher Jacek Wudz said. "The voters’ turnout will have significance. Kukiz’s voters self-organized and came to the polls to vote for him but it’s a big question whether they will go to the runoff."