UPDATE: Deadline for presidential election candidate submissions ends with record participation
So far, 10 candidates have been officially registered for Poland’s upcoming presidential election.
Leading in the polls is Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and candidate of the governing centrist Civic Coalition (KO).
His rivals include Magdalena Biejat of the Left, Adrian Zandberg from the left-wing Razem party, and lower-house Speaker Szymon Hołownia, representing the centrist Third Way alliance, a coalition of the Poland 2050 group and the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL).
Among the social democrats, former left-wing MP and economist Joanna Senyszyn has also announced her bid.
Right-wing candidates include Karol Nawrocki, head of the Institute of National Remembrance, supported by the opposition Law and Justice party, and Sławomir Mentzen from the far-right Confederation party.
Grzegorz Braun, an independent MEP expelled from Confederation and known for radical views, is also in the race.
Other candidates include Artur Bartoszewicz, an economist, and Marek Woch from the Nonpartisan Local Government movement.
A campaign committee backing Maciej Maciak, leader of the Prosperity and Peace Movement, has been asked to correct deficiencies in his registration.
Candidates still awaiting approval
The following candidates are still awaiting approval:
Journalist Krzysztof Stanowski says he plans to submit the necessary support signatures for his candidacy on the final day.
Far-right contender ignites fresh controversy
Meanwhile, Grzegorz Braun, the far-right candidate who was formerly a member of the Confederation party, sparked controversy once again on Thursday while appearing on Stanowski's Kanał Zero YouTube program.
Braun, who is infamous for antics such as disrupting European Parliament sessions and extinguishing Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament--an incident that led to him facing exclusion and criminal charges--expressed thinly-veiled support for Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus and stopped short of condemning Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.
He also criticized mainstream international politics and described himself as a "fan of the Trump administration" in Washington, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Key dates and voting information
Eligible voters in Poland have until May 15 to submit requests for voting certificates for voting in their place of residence on election day or to request a change of voting location.
Poland's presidential election will take place on May 18, with a potential runoff on June 1 if no candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote in the first round.
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(mp/gs)
Source: IAR/PAP/BBC/X/@K_Stanowski