This past Sunday, the thirteenth of November, a little over 40% of Poland's eligible voters (a sizable percentage by Polish standards) turned out at the polls to decide the outcome of the municipal elections. Sunday's elections were particularly close for Warsaw, as in the majoral race Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz of the party Law and Order (PiS) barely beat out Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz of Citizen's Platform (PO) by a margin of 38.4% to 36.7%. Since neither candidate received an outright majority, a runoff will still be needed. The split continued nationally, with PiS barely winning the Council while PO barely gained a majority in the Sejm.
In general, PO candidates performed the best in Poland's largest cities, as in Krakow Jacek Majchrowski of PO won the majorship by 41% to the PiS candidate Ryszard Terlecki's 27.7%. |