Opposition hopes to take power, even though ruling party tops Polish exit poll

An exit poll in Poland’s parliamentary election last night suggested that the ruling Law and Justice PiS) party had won the most votes in a tightly fought contest.

- Shaun Walker Warsaw

But opposition parties said that if the poll was accurate, it showed a possible route to government for a coalition led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk.

Minutes after the poll was released at 9pm, Tusk appeared on stage at the Civic Coalition election headquarters in Warsaw, to declare victory. It’s the end of the evil times, it’s the end of the PiS rule, we made it,” he said, to cheers from supporters. We won democracy, we won freedom, we won our free beloved Poland This day will be remembered in history as a bright day, the rebirth of Poland.”

However, an exit poll in Slovakia’s election earlier this month appeared to show a victory for a progressive coalition, only for the actual results to be strikingly different. Final results may not be available until today.

Party predictions

36.8% Predicted vote for the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), which has governed for eight years

31.6% The share of the vote forecast for Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition, with a record high turnout of above 70%

13% Share expected to go to the centreright Third Way, which could work with Tusk and a third grouping

The exit poll put PiS on 36.8%, and Tusk’s Civic Coalition on 31.6%. However, two groups that could form a coalition with Tusk also did well, with 13% for the centre-right Third Way and 8.6% for the leftwing Lewica.