2023-10-15 21:54 update: 2023-10-16, 18:26
Photo. PAP/Paweł Supernak
Poland’s governing Law and Justice (PiS) would get 200 seats in the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, according to the results of an exit poll.
If the poll is confirmed by the actual election result, which should be known on Tuesday, it would mean the party will fall short of getting the 231 seats needed to form a majority despite it being biggest party in parliament.
Civic Coalition, the largest opposition grouping, will get 163 seats in parliament while the Third Way and the New Left will receive 55 and 30 seats, respectively, according to an Ipsos exit poll.
The far-right Confederation party should take 12 seats in parliament.
The combined number of opposition seats mean that they could try to form a government. Leaders of the opposition parties have expressed a willingness to cooperate in order to unseat PiS, which has been in power for eight years, and is seeking its third election victory.
PiS's attempts to form a government could be hamstrung by the fact that no other parties outside its junior allies in the United Right coalition have expressed a willingness to work with it.
With no clear winner, Poland faces a period of political horse-trading as parties try to form a government.
Under the Polish constitution, Andrzej Duda, the country’s president, has to call the first session of the new parliament within 30 days of the election.
After the first session, he has 14 days to appoint a prime minister. (PAP)
md/jd
