Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says his ruling coalition is not contesting the results of the hotly contested presidential runoff election that pitted conservative opposition candidate Karol Nawrocki against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and ended up with Nawrocki edging out Trzaskowski.
2 weeks Ago By Kamil Wrona
The June 1 runoff was tainted by reports of voting irregularities, including accusations of votes allegedly cast for Trzaskowski being counted as votes for Nawrocki at least at two polling stations. Tusk stressed, however, that despite the controversy, his coalition is 'committed to the constitutional and democratic steps'.
Duda and PiS fight back against (alleged) critics
The then-president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, a political allied to Nawrocki and the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party, hinted dissolved on X (formerly Twitter) that the ruling coalition was seeking to delegitimise a fair election outcome. He accused "post-communists" and the liberal left of forming some kind of sinister alliance to "take away our freedom of choice."
Emotions have flared in the vote's aftermath, with protests, online petitions and increased attention to vote counts at the local level. Nevertheless it is understood that the extent of the irregularities is not sufficiently significant to alter the overall result.
Tusk Urges Patience, Confidence in Legal Process
Tusk spoke on Tuesday to the state news agency PAP, denying that his government is disputing the result. "I've been witness to none of the leaders of our coalition try and generate anxiety or contest the election results," he said. "We are trying to stay calm and be rational, abiding by what the constitution, the Electoral Code and common human decency give us," he said.
He repeated that any issues are best addressed in the Supreme Court, and premature calls of election fraud erode public trust.
To date more than two dozen official complaints have been lodged about the conduct of the elections ahead of the June 16 cut-off date for grievances.
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