Opposition PiS get most votes in Polish local elections but Tusk’s KO win most regional assemblies
Poland’s electoral commission has announced the final results of voting in Sunday’s local elections for regional parliamentary in each of Poland’s 16 provinces.
The national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which is the main opposition party nationally, won the largest share of the vote overall. However, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk emerged as the largest group in nine of the 16 provincial parliaments.
In total, PiS won 34.3% of the vote nationwide ahead of KO on 30.6%. They were followed by the centre-right Third Way (Trzecia Droga) on 14.3%, far-right Confederation (Kondeferacja) on 7.2%, and The Left (Lewica) on 6.3%.
Voter turnout was 51.9%, down three points on the 54.9% seen at the last local elections in 2018.
Znamy wyniki wyborów. PiS osiągnęło najlepszy wynik w sejmikach, ale zmniejsza się jego dotychczasowy stan posiadania. 👇 pic.twitter.com/wAxQM3cIHF
— WPROST.pl (@TygodnikWPROST) April 8, 2024
KO was the largest group in the provincial parliaments of Lower Silesia (where it won 33.5% of the vote), Kujawy-Pomerania (38.3%), Lubusz (34.7%), Opole (36.5%), Pomerania (43.8%), Silesia (32.4%), Warmia-Masuria (34.9%), Wielkopolska (32%) and West Pomerania (38.9%).
PiS came top in the provinces of Lublin (where it won 47.2% of the vote), Łódź (37.6%), Małopolska (43.9%), Masovia (33.2%), Subcarpathia (52%), Podlaskie (43.5%) and Świętokrzyskie (42%).
However, ultimate control of those regional assemblies will depend on the formation of alliances to create majorities. KO, which rules nationally alongside Third Way and The Left, is regarded as having far greater potential to form such coalitions than PiS, which may seek agreements with Confederation.
Znamy zwycięzców w wyborach do sejmików. PKW podała ostateczne wyniki ➡️ https://t.co/Ctyrrl9ITQ pic.twitter.com/jfMMZdJIF8
— Onet Wiadomości (@OnetWiadomosci) April 8, 2024
Both of Poland’s two main parties have sought to put a positive spin on their results. PiS figures have noted that these were the ninth elections in a row – parliamentary, presidential, local and European – in which they have won the largest share of the vote. That streak stretches back to 2014.
They also note that the outcome on Sunday defied predictions from some commentators that PiS’s share of the vote would collapse. “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” declared PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński on Sunday evening.
PO, however, notes that it came first in most provincial parliaments and that, along with its allies, it will control even more of them: eleven in total, according to Tusk.
The prime minister also celebrated the fact that he and his allies dominated the mayoral elections also held on Sunday. In all of Poland’s 100 largest cities, PiS failed to win the most votes, and in only 16 of those will it even enter a second-round run-off, noted Tusk.
The first official results from local elections have begun to emerge.
In Warsaw, mayor @trzaskowski_ has won a second term with 57.4%. Incumbents also won in Gdańsk and Łódź.
However, Kraków, Wrocław and Poznań will need run-off votes in two weeks https://t.co/wPAcviw2IJ
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 8, 2024
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Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
