Nationalist right wing Law and Justice party wins second term in Polish elections

Poland’s ruling party won parliamentary elections and is set to get four more years to finish policies that have collided with the European Union’s democratic standards, an exit poll showed.

Riding a wave of popular support built on welfare handouts, the vilification of gays and the rejection of multiculturalism, Law and Justice won 43.6 per cent. That compared with 27.4 per cent for its nearest rival, the pro-European Civic Coalition, according to a nationwide exit poll published after ballot stations closed Sunday.

With the predicted victory, Law and Justice is planning to further tighten its grip on Polish society and institutions, having halted a generation-long drive toward the European mainstream.

Following the illiberal model embraced by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, ruling-party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has promised to use a second term to complete measures to gain more sway over the judiciary and to “re-Polonise” major industries and the country’s still largely independent media. He declared victory, although he signalled disappointment after the party did not win as much support as it did in European Parliament elections in May.

“We attained a lot, but we deserve more,” Kaczynski told cheering supporters after the exit poll was released. “Poland needs to continue its change, needs to change for the better. We face four more years of hard work.”

With partial results set to trickle in during the late evening and Monday, and the exit poll showed Law and Justice taking 239 of parliament’s 460 seats. Turnout was 61.1 per cent, the highest for a general election since the 1989 fall of communism. Final results are expected to be published by Tuesday.