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Poles vote for new president but run-off likely
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-09 15:10
Poles began voting in a presidential election on Sunday that could decide
whether Poland pursues new market reforms or focuses on traditional conservative
values since completing its long trek into the EU.
The last opinion polls showed moderate pro-business candidate Donald Tusk
with a slim lead over conservative Lech Kaczynski but that neither candidate had
enough support to avoid a run-off vote in two weeks' time.
The polls predicted Tusk would win by a narrow margin in the second round on
Oct 23 in the contest between the two former activists with Solidarity.
Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) and first exit polls were due
after voting ends at 8 p.m. None of the remaining 10 candidates looks able to
threaten the front-runners.
Tusk's and Kaczynski's parties trounced the ruling left in parliamentary
elections two weeks ago and are now in coalition talks, complicated by the
presidential duel.
A victory for either man would cement a sharp swing to the right after four
years of scandal-tainted leftist rule and two five-year terms for outgoing
formerly communist President Aleksander Kwasniewski.
CONSIDERABLE POWERS
Whoever wins will have considerable powers. The president is commander in
chief of Polish forces, has a say over foreign policy, can propose and veto
legislation and nominate prime ministers and, in some circumstances, dissolve
parliament.
Mirroring a European Union-wide debate, the election campaign between Tusk
and Kaczynski centered on how quickly and how far to go with free-market reforms
and how much welfare the EU's biggest new member can afford.
Tusk, 48, and his Civic Platform want to revitalize the economy by cutting
red tape and taxes, saying this is the best way to put back to work Poland's 18
percent unemployed, an EU record high.
The soft-spoken historian paints his party as a force for modernization that
can unite Poles, mend strained relations with big neighbors Germany and Russia
and anchor the nation of 38 million in the European mainstream.
Kaczynski, 56, and his Law and Justice party promise a clear break from
post-communist Poland under the banner of the "Fourth Republic," "moral renewal"
and a return to Christian values while protecting workers' rights and the
welfare state.
The conservatives have also courted the religious right, shrugging off EU
criticism over their calls to limit gay rights and reinstate the death penalty.
"I came to vote for Tusk. I am not fully convinced by him, but he looks to
have the best chance," economist Krystian Jacobson, 28, said in Tusk's home
city, the Baltic port of Gdansk and birthplace of Solidarity.
"I hope that things will get a bit better, at least in the economy," he
said.
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