Duda narrowly wins 2nd term as president of Poland

Warsaw, Jul 13 (efe-epa).- The ultra-conservative Andrzej Duda has been re-elected president of Poland with 51.2 percent of the votes, according to the provisional results released by the National Electoral Commission Monday, after counting in more than 90 percent of districts.

According to the data, the incumbent president, backed by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), received the most votes in Sunday’s runoff election, while his rival, the liberal, pro-Europe mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, won 48.7 percent of the votes.

Reports of Duda’s win for a second five-year term began to emerge on Sunday night, with the release of the first exit polls, although at that time his lead over his opponent was only of a few tenths – 50.4 percent for the president compared to 49.6 percent for Trzaskowski.

A second poll conducted by Ipsos widened that lead a few hours later, placing Duda at about 51 percent. The outcome of what seemed to be a technical tie, as it took into account a margin of error of two points, was left for Monday’s official count.

Duda had declared himself the winner before his supporters Sunday night after the release of the first exit polls, while Trzaskowski said they should wait for the results.

Voter turnout in the second round of Poland’s presidential elections was a record 68.12 percent of the almost 30 million Poles eligible to vote.

“Winning the presidential election with 70 percent of turnout, it’s excellent news. I’m very moved,” Duda said Sunday night.

He also thanked his supporters, adding that he would continue with the policies he had pursued so far.

Meanwhile, Trzaskowski expressed confidence that he would be the winner once all the votes were counted.

Duda won 43.5 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections held on June 28, with a total of 11 candidates, while Trzaskowski came second with 30.46 percent.