Poland's ruling conservatives win parliamentary election, but lose majority - election authority

Poland’s ruling conservatives have won the country’s parliamentary election, but will lack a majority in the new parliament, according to provisional data announced by electoral officials on Monday, an outcome that could pave the way for the opposition to take power.

Members of Poland's National Electoral Commission.

Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz

With 99.41 percent of the ballots counted, the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, allied with two smaller groupings in a United Right coalition, had 35.61 percent of the vote, while the largest opposition bloc, the liberal Civic Coalition, led by the Civic Platform (PO) party, had 30.51 percent, the National Electoral Commission said late on Monday.

The centre-right opposition Third Way alliance finished third in Sunday's election, with 14.42 percent, according to the data released by the National Electoral Commission.

The New Left, another opposition party, finished fourth with 8.56 percent, the data showed.

The far-right Confederation group, with 7.15 percent, also crossed the 5-percent voter support threshold that Polish parties need to clear to enter parliament, according to the latest data.

Państwowa Komisja Wyborcza opublikowała dane z ponad 90 procent obwodów głosowania w wyborach do Senatuhttps://t.co/LWaifVgwhw

— PolskieRadio24.pl (@PR24_pl) October 16, 2023

Polish voters went to the ballot box on Sunday to choose 460 MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.

The National Electoral Commission was expected to release the final results of the vote by noon on Tuesday.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, wybory.gov.pl