Poland – Local elections

On Sunday, local elections were held in Poland. The take-home point seems to be that the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party has done well.

The Warsaw Business Journal reports that the incumbent PO mayor of Warsaw has been re-elected at the first ballot. In Białystok and Gdańsk the same scenario applies. In most places there will be a second round of voting in two weeks time. The Warsaw Voice is reporting that PO candidates got most votes in seven cities, the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) in two and the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) in one.

Elections for so-called voivodeship councils (Sejmik) were also held. These seem to be regional councils, but with very few powers. However, they are useful in that Warsaw Business Journal is reporting overall results for the parties. The figures are:

Civic Platform (PO) 31.43 per cent
Law and Justice (PiS) 23.07 per cent
Polish People’s Party (PSL) 15.65 per cent
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) 15.3 per cent
Voter turnout was 46.32 per cent

These figures compare with an exit poll for the local elections in general and reported by newser, which has the PO at 34 per cent, the PiS at 27 per cent, the SLD at 16 per cent and the PSL at 13 per cent. So, together, the two sets of figures seem to give a general picture of the current state of the parties in Poland.

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