The second round of the presidential election has already opened in Poland, with two candidates putting huge harm to the country.
The match brought support from Donald Tusk’s Political Diversity Ruling Alliance – support historian and former amateur boxer Karol Nawrocki, supported by Donald Tusk’s Political Diversity Alliance (Rafał Trzaskowski) with the Populist Law and Justice (PIS) party that ruled between the countries between 2015 and 2023.
The role of the Polish president is largely ritualistic, but it has had some impact on foreign and defense policies and has the key power to veto new legislation. This can only be overturned by one-fifth of most of the parliament, while the current government does not.
After 18 months of hard living with opposition President Andrzej Duda, whether Tusk's administration can make progress on election commitments on rule of law and social issues, including abortion and LGBTQ rights.
Nawrocki's victory will extend the current deadlock, making it difficult for the government to pass any major reforms before the 2027 parliamentary elections.
"Tusk knows the bet that if Nawrocki wins, he will get a lame soldier government in the next few years. It will be worse than with Duda, because Nawrocki will make his mark and engage in a new task of the government, which actually becomes a referendum for the government," said Aleks szccerbiak, professor szccerbiak, who teaches politics in central Europe, which is the people of central Europe politics.
In the final days of the campaign, both candidates tried to seek jobs from candidate voters and mobilized their supporters, analysts stressed that less than 200,000 votes could determine the outcome of the contest.
Polls show that the difference between the two candidates is within the range of error, making it the closest election in Poland's post-1989 history.
"The results are unpredictable - there are too many places of activity, and even the slightest change of the day could make the balance light up," said Ben Stanley, associate professor at SWPS University in Warsaw.
The country entered election silence Friday night, which banned further campaigns and new polls. This leaves voters with only 24 hours to reflect on a cruel and polarized movement.
Since 2018, Oxford-educated Mayor of Warsaw Trzaskowski, who previously served in the European Parliament, tried to project himself as a safe hand and work with the government to implement progressive reforms.
But his campaign faces difficulties due to his close ties to the unpopular Ivory government. He must also defend his advice to avoid failing and elites and oppose allegations that foreign online advertising funds promote his candidacy.
Navoloki, in turn, is a newbie in politics. Since 2021, he has led the National Institute of Memorial, a national institute whose prosecuting power investigates historical crimes against Poland.
He was formally independent but recognized by PIS, and he offered a new face to the party, thanks to the burden of polarization that had taken power for eight years. He has received public support from U.S. President Donald Trump and his members of the administration, as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
But his campaign was haunted by allegations related to his past misconduct, including questions about his acquisition of apartments from an older man and admitted that he participated in an organized battle between 140 football hooligans when he was young.
Nawrocki's victory could also change Poland's support for Ukraine. He repeatedly talked about the difficult history between the two countries and declared opposition to Ukraine's membership in NATO.
The poll will end at 9pm local time (8pm BST) and an exit poll will be conducted. However, the game is expected to be too close, and the focus shifts to later polls, with official results dripping overnight.