Andrzej Duda has won the second round of the Polish presidential elections with 51% of the votes. His 10,430,000 votes were almost half a million more than his rival, the Civic Coalition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski who gained 49% of the votes. Voter turnout exceeded 68%, the highest since 1989, which means that more than 20 million Poles took part in the elections. During today’s speech in the village of Odrzywół, Duda emphasized that such a high turnout shows the maturity of Polish democracy. President Duda also appealed for national reconciliation.
Yesterday, before the announcement of the first survey results, Rafał Trzaskowski’s staff were very optimistic.
“All we have to do is to count the votes. It is going to be a very stressful night for everyone in Poland, but I’m convinced that if we count every single vote, we will win”, stated Trzaskowski before the final result.
The final results, however, announced by the National Election Commission or PKW, confirmed the victory of President Andrzej Duda.
“Andrzej Duda won 51% of the votes, and Rafał Trzaskowski 49%. The difference is not big. Voter turnout is 68%, and is the highest since 1989”, announced PKW.
Soon after the announcement of the election results, President Andrzej Duda congratulated his rival and called for the voters of Trzaskowski to reconcile after the rough campaign.
“I would like to ask all of us, despite our differences, to respect one another. There is a place for everyone under our white and red flag. I would also like to invite Mr. Mayor for a meeting at 11pm”, stated President Duda following the first results.
Rafał Trzaskowski did not accept the invitation saying that there will be plenty of time for that after the announcement of the official results, but he did congratulate the winner on Twitter:
“Almost 10 million votes. I would like to thank everyone for their votes. I would also like to thank everyone for this incredible energy. It will be beautiful someday. I congratulate Andrzej Duda. I hope his second term of office will be different!”
The votes of the undecided voters were crucial in the second round of the elections. The majority of voters of Szymon Hołownia voted for Rafał Trzaskowski. Half of voters of Krzysztof Bosak supported Andrzej Duda, and the other half his rival.
According to columnists, Andrzej Duda’s second term of office, just as the first one, may be difficult at first.
“It will be a difficult time for Duda after the victory. His victory was achieved under difficult conditions. I think his staff should analyze this campaign and consider it lost, and not won. It’ll help them avoid failures in the future”, commented Dr Krzysztof Karnkowski.
The national electoral commission is expected to announce the official election results later today or tomorrow at the latest.