Phantom presidential election in Poland

Text by: Thomas Giraudeau Follow

Very special, unique day, Sunday in Poland. The first round of the presidential election was to take place, with voters going to the polls. But the poll was postponed Wednesday evening, at the last moment. Postponement, the polling stations did not open, but nothing was legally, formally acted in accordance with the Polish Constitution. So it was a kind of ghost ballot.

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From our correspondent in Warsaw,

It was because of the conditions in which the election was postponed that this situation came about. The adjournment was decided by agreement between the president of the ruling party and one of his parliamentary allies.

The two men concluded that the poll would not take place on May 10, and will be postponed. But they don't have that power. Only the Polish Supreme Court can declare the election invalid and cancel it. Having not yet acted, the poll was therefore still held on Sunday. Except that it did not take place, political agreement obliges.

Legally, postponing the ballot by this method is questionable. However, there was a way to do it in the rules. Declare a state of natural disaster, as defined in the Polish Constitution, due to the epidemic.  The election would have automatically been postponed until at least August. But the PiS, Law and Justice, in power, has always refused to do so.

Because the current president, Andrzej Duda, benefits greatly from the crisis. He would be re-elected in the first round if the poll takes place in May according to polls. But the more the election is postponed, the more its score is likely to drop due to the economic consequences of the pandemic.

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• Poland
• Coronavirus
• Andrzej Duda

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