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Poland’s presidential election to take place on June 28

03.06.2020 11:30
Poland’s delayed presidential election will take place on June 28, the Speaker of the country’s lower house of parliament, Elżbieta Witek, announced on Wednesday.
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Lower-house Speaker Elżbieta Witek announces a new date for Polands presidential election, in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Lower-house Speaker Elżbieta Witek announces a new date for Poland's presidential election, in Warsaw on Wednesday.Photo: PAP/Mateusz Marek

If no contender wins more than 50 percent the vote, under Polish election rules, a second round will be held two weeks later, on July 12.

The country’s presidential election will be conducted via a mixed system of postal and traditional in-person voting, under a set of rules approved by parliament and signed into law on Tuesday.

Conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda, who has been president since 2015, is seeking re-election and appears to be the front-runner in the race.

In a major speech, he last month summed up his five years in office and outlined his second-term vision for Poland.

Duda’s contenders in the presidential race include middle-of-the-road politician Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL); leftist Robert Biedroń; far-right hopeful Krzysztof Bosak; and celebrity journalist Szymon Hołownia.

Poland's main opposition party, the centrist Civic Platform (PO), in mid-May chose Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski as its new pick for head of state to replace deputy parliamentary Speaker Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.

The Polish presidential vote was originally scheduled for May 10, but it failed to go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 24,545 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease in Poland, with 1,102 deaths from the coronavirus so far, public health officials said on Wednesday morning.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, PAP, TVP Info

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