Andrzej Duda, 43-year-old candidate of Poland’s leading right-wing party (prawicowa partia), stunned the nation’s political establishment on Sunday by wresting the presidency from the incumbent, Bronisław Komorowski, who is allied with the party that has governed during eight years of stability and prosperity.
Official results will not be released until Monday, at the earliest, but a combination of exit polls and early vote tallies showed that Mr. Duda had won a fairly decisive victory, with 52 percent of the votes, over Mr. Komorowski, with 48 percent.
Mr. Komorowski conceded defeat (przyznał się do porażki) before a glum gathering of his supporters saying, “It didn’t work out this time.” He congratulated Mr. Duda, saying, “I wish him a good presidency, because I wish Poland well.”
The position is a largely ceremonial one in Poland. Mr. Duda’s victory, though, raises the real prospect that Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska), the center-right party that has controlled the government since 2007, will be turned out in parliamentary elections this fall.
Polish voters, clearly eager for a change, rejected pleas from Mr. Komorowski that electing Mr. Duda would threaten Poland’s economic expansion and its close relationships with Germany and the European Union.
The election was being watched with great interest in Washington and across Europe because Poland, with the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, has been assuming a larger and more energetic role in continental affairs.
Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, was elected president of the European Council last year, for instance, with the eager backing of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
Both parties support Poland’s membership in NATO and the European Union and take a hard line against the policies of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. But Mr. Duda’s party, Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość), is much more socially conservative and nationalistic and tends to be more skeptical about surrendering authority over Polish affairs to European partners.
Civic Platform has forged very close ties with Germany, and sought a larger role and more prominent voice in European Union affairs.
Let’s refresh the history of Polish presidency: List of the Presidents of Poland (officially President of the Republic of Poland – Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) and other Polish heads of state since 1918 (people who held title other than President):
Second Republic (1918-1939)
Józef Piłsudski (Chief of State), 1918-1922
Gabriel Narutowicz, 1922
Maciej Rataj (acting), 1922
Stanisław Wojciechowski, 1922-1926
Maciej Rataj (acting), 1926
Ignacy Mościcki, 1926-1939
Government in exile (1939-1990)
Government in emigration was recognized internationally until 1945
Władysław Raczkiewicz, 1939-1947
August Zaleski, 1947-1972
Stanisław Ostrowski, 1972-1979
Edward Bernard Raczyński, 1979-1986
Kazimierz Sabbat, 1986-1989
Ryszard Kaczorowski, 1989-1990
Communist Poland (1944-1989)
Bolesław Bierut, 1944-1952
Aleksander Zawadzki (Council of State), 1953-1964
Edward Ochab (Council of State), 1964-1968
Marian Spychalski (Council of State), 1968-1970
Józef Cyrankiewicz (Council of State), 1970-1972
Henryk Jabłoński (Council of State), 1972-1985
Wojciech Jaruzelski (Council of State), 1985-1989
Third Republic (from 1989)
Wojciech Jaruzelski, 1989-1990
Lech Wąłęsa, 1990-1995
Aleksander Kwaśniewski, 1995-2005
Lech Kaczyński, 2005-10 April 2010
Bronisław Komorowski (acting), 10 April 2010-8 July 2010
Bogdan Borusewicz (acting), 8 July 2010
Grzegorz Schetyna (acting), 8 July 2010 – 6 August 2010
Bronisław Komorowski, 6 August 2010 –
Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)
