Centrist Trzaskowski likely wins Polish presidential election, exit poll shows
Rafal Trzaskowski, a candidate backed by the centrist ruling party, has won the second round of the presidential ballot on Sunday, securing 50.3 percent of the vote against the right-wing Karol Nawrocki on 49.7 percent, an Ipsos exit poll has shown.
If Trzaskowski's win is confirmed by the National Electoral Commission, in August he will take over as Poland's next president for a five-year term.
Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and a member of the ruling centrist party Civic Coalition, also won the first round of the presidential election on May 18, securing 31.36 percent of the vote.
Nawrocki, who was supported by the previous governing party, the socially-conservative Law and Justice, secured 29.54 of the vote in the first round on May 18.
The exit poll was carried out by Ipsos for the public television station TVP and leading private TV broadcasters.
Ipsos puts the margin of error for the exit poll at 2 percent.
The estimated turnout was relatively high, at 72.8 percent.
After exit poll results were announced, Trzaskowski said: "We won, but on the razor's edge. I said it would be very close."
He added that from the very beginning he said every vote would count.
"I will unite and build, I will truly be the president of all Polish women and men, I will be your president," Trzaskowski declared.
Meanwhile, Nawrocki told his supporters: "We will win and save Poland," referring to the fact that the difference was so narrow that the official figures could still change.
"We will not allow for making [Prime Minister] Donald Tusk's rule complete, for the monopoly of the evil rule, the rule that does not care about public finances, the rule that takes away our great dreams and aspirations," he added.
Trzaskowski won in 10 out of 16 Polish provinces, while his right-wing rival, Nawrocki, came first in the remaining six, according to Ipsos.
The Warsaw mayor won in Poland's northern, central and western and southwestern provinces, while Nawrocki came ahead of him in the eastern, southeastern and southern regions, and in one central province.
This reflected the usual division of voter preference in Poland, in which eastern and southeastern regions tend to prefer conservative or nationalist candidates while the rest of the country is more likely to vote for more liberal and pro-European contenders.
Most urban voters supported Trzaskowski, while rural areas mostly backed Nawrocki, the exit poll showed.
Most differences in support were seen in the biggest cities, of over 500,000 inhabitants, where Trzaskowski secured 67.8 percent of the vote against Nawrocki's 32.5 percent, and in villages, where the support reversed to 36.6 percent and 63.4 percent, respectively.
Trzaskowski won between 52.8 and 67.8 percent of the votes in towns and cities, depending on their size.
The National Electoral Commission is likely to publish the official election results on Monday before noon. (PAP)
jd/mmr
