Polish President Andrzej Duda would be defeated in the next presidential election, according to two recent polls, conducted after the main opposition party chose the mayor of Warsaw as his candidate.
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In April, polls gave the outgoing president winning in the first round, with more than 50% of the vote. But according to two recent polls, A. Duda gets only 35 to 39% of the vote. This changeover came a few days after the decision of the main liberal opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), to change the presidential candidate, betting on the mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski.
Rafal Trzaskowski was immediately propelled into second position in the polls, suggesting a tight duel in the second round with Mr. Duda, supported by the right-wing ruling party, Droit et justice (PiS).
Originally scheduled for May 10, the presidential election was postponed until the last minute after the government and opposition parties were unable to find a compromise on the way forward, in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic.
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Support for the outgoing president plunged to 35%, according to a poll conducted on May 18 and 19 by the independent polling institute PBS and published on Saturday in the pages of the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza. A second poll conducted the same days by the Kantar group, and published Thursday, gave him 39% of the vote.
R. Trzaskowski obtained respectively 21 and 18% of support in the two polls, followed by the centrist and independent candidate Szymon Holownia (19 and 15%).
