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Poles vote for continuity in presidential election

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WARSAW – Bronislaw Komorowski celebrated with supporters at his election campaign headquarters here in Warsaw last night, as polls show him the likely next president.  Komorowski’s  victory over Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of former President Lech Kaczynski who died in a plane crash with other top Polish officials in April, takes the reins at an important time in Polish history.

The country is one of the few in Europe that has shown strong signs of growth during the global economic crisis, and Warsaw continues to play a key role within the EU as the body seeks to solidify relations with countries on its eastern borders and strengthen ties with Russia on a host of issues.

According to Bogdan Borusewicz, the Marshal of Poland’s Senate, the election of Komorowski signals continuity for Poland’s  foreign policy and economic reform process.   Most agree that the election of Komorowski, a pensive historian by trade, promises little drama, unlike Kaczynski, who the independent Borusewicz said was “completely unpredictable.”

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A top editor at one of Poland’s largest daily newspapers, Gazeta, said the “most important election since 1995,” hinged on two main domestic issues – agricultural and pension reforms.  Many Kaczynski supporters, especially in the countryside, favored his conservative take on both, while Komorowski’s camp laid claim to the urban centers of Krakow and Warsaw, where EU supported reforms generally have more support.

The win for Komorowski also brings the Civic Platform party into alignment, as it now controls the presidency, and along with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the rest of the legislature.  It will now be under enormous pressure to govern.

In an interview with journalists the day before the polls opened, former Polish president and founder of the Solidarity Movement Lech Walesa said the “wiser” party – not the “louder” party, would win this election, but that no matter what, it was time to get to work on the big issues, from solidifying Poland’s role as a key player in the EU to promoting democracy in neighboring countries and around the globe.  “There is still  a great need for Solidarity in Poland and around the world,” he said, citing Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Zimbabwe as examples where democratic change was needed.

The day before the election, Krakow hosted a High Level Summit of the Community of Democracies, where foreign ministers and secretaries of state, including Hilary Clinton, met to discuss the state of democracy around the world.  As Poles celebrate another historic and democratic election 30 years after 30 years after its break from Communism, Warsaw indeed served as an appropriate backdrop.

 

Author

Robert Nolan

Robert Nolan is Editor-in-Chief of New Media at the Foreign Policy Association and a writer and producer of the Great Decisions Television Series on PBS. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe and graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, he has interviewed numerous heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, artists and musicians, and policymakers.