Poland election: President Duda is a key Trump ally but EU warns he has eroded democracy

Duda is expected to win on Sunday but fall short of a majority, and a potential run-off against Warsaw’s liberal mayor appears too close to call

He has drawn comparisons to Hungary’s Viktor Orban by stoking tensions with the EU and wielding influence through state-owned companies

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Polish President Andrzej Duda addresses an election campaign in Krakow. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:20pm, 26 Jun 2020Updated: 7:29pm, 26 Jun 2020

The future of Poland’s right-wing government hangs in the balance as Poles prepare to vote on Sunday in a tight election that had to be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahead of the vote, President Andrzej Duda visited Washington where he received words of encouragement from US President Donald Trump who said he was doing a “terrific job”.

Trump sees Duda, backed by the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, as an important European ally and Duda’s visit to the White House was the first by a foreign leader since the pandemic began. But Poland’s EU partners have pilloried the government’s reforms, particularly of the judicial system, saying they are eroding democracy just three decades after Poland shed communism.

The latest opinion polls indicate that Duda will easily come first on Sunday but fall short of the 50 per cent majority required to win outright.

He would then face a run-off in the second round on July 12 against liberal rival Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, that is too close to call.

Duda has promised to defend the governing party’s raft of popular social benefits, including a child allowance and extra pension payments – a key factor behind the populists winning a second term in October’s parliamentary election.

He has also echoed the party’s attacks on LGBT+ rights and Western values, something critics argue is a pivot away from corruption allegations against senior PiS officials in their handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Duda’s anti-gay attacks have triggered a wave of protests.