Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s liberal-conservative Civic Coalition is expected to win the European elections in Poland by a wide margin, according to initial forecasts.
Tusk’s party is predicted to win 38.2%, post-election polls conducted by pollster Ipsos indicated.
It is hoped that the Civic Coalition will be able to send 21 legislators to the European Parliament. “We waited exactly 10 years for the first place on the podium. I’m very happy,” said a visibly emotional Tusk on Sunday night.
The largest opposition party, the national conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, came second with 33.9% of the vote. PiS is therefore expected to be represented by 19 MEPs.
The third strongest party was the radical right-wing Confederation, with 11.9%, or six MEPs.
The last two places were taken by the two smaller coalition partners, who form the center-left government with Tusk’s party. The Christian Democratic Third Way received 8.2%, or four MEPs, and the Left Alliance received 6.6% of the votes and will have three MEPs.
The Polish electoral commission said voter turnout was 28.2% at 5pm (3pm GMT).
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