The first round of the presidential election in Poland will be held on June 28, authorities said on Wednesday. The poll was canceled last month due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the polls, a candidate for the Liberal opposition could beat the outgoing head of state, Andrzej Duda, who is running for re-election and is supported by the right-wing conservative nationalist government.

According to the Constitution, "I fix the date of the election for Sunday June 28", declared Wednesday to the press the president of the Diet (lower house) Elzbieta Witek, member of the party Law and justice (PiS, with the capacity ). 

>> Read also: In Europe, the electoral deadlines impacted by the Covid-19

Elzbieta Witek echoed the date announced last week by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of the PiS, who, without exercising official functions, has been considered the de facto leader of Poland since 2015.

If, in the first round, none of the candidates obtains more than 50% of the votes, the second round between the two remaining candidates will be held on July 12.

Elections adapted to Covid-19 

Initially, the poll was to be held on May 10, but it was adjourned at the last minute due to the inability of the nationalist Conservative government to find a compromise with the opposition on the way forward, in the midst of a pandemic, and faced with doubts about its legality and possible modalities.

Having joined the electoral race after the postponement of the May poll, the centrist mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, will only have seven days to collect 100,000 signatures of support formally necessary, the nine other candidates, including Andrzej Duda, have been authorized to benefit from previously collected signatures.

A weakened outgoing president 

Long favorite of the ballot, President Duda seems to suffer a decline in popularity in recent weeks, as the crisis due to the pandemic begins to hit the Polish economy. According to the latest polls, he could even lose in the second round against Rafal Trzaskowski.

On Tuesday, parliament adopted a new electoral law which provides for a mixed postal and conventional vote to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection. A total of 24,545 contaminations and 1,102 deaths have been recorded in Poland, which has 38 million inhabitants.

With AFP and Reuters 

The France 24 week summary invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR