Tusk and Duda clash over presidential election outcome
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda on Saturday clashed publicly over the outcome of the country's recent presidential election amid reports of vote-counting irregularities.
Tusk addressed Duda, President-elect Karol Nawrocki and the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party leader Jaroslav Kaczynsky on X. He asked whether they were interested in learning the 'real vote count' and said 'the honest have nothing to fear.'
Duda responded that the ruling camp was unable to accept defeat.
'You believe you must win, and that's it,' he said, 'I am not curious about the result because I know them.'
The president defended the National Electoral Commission's (PKW) certification of the vote and called on the government to refrain from 'provocations, lies and pressure.' He added that the ballots remain under the authority of the Supreme Court and the PKW.
Kaczynski said a recount is not permitted under Polish law. Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized Tusk's remarks, questioning whether coalition leaders should endorse what he described as the prime minister's 'madness.'
According to the PKW, PiS backed Nawrocki won 10,606,877 votes in the runoff, narrowly defeating centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who received 10,237,286 votes.
The electoral commission confirmed the results on Monday but acknowledged that 'incidents that could have affected the outcome' occurred in the second round. It said the Supreme Court would assess the implications.
Local media have reported counting errors in several areas, including Krakow and Minsk Mazowiecki. Officials there admitted to misattributing votes cast for Trzaskowski to Nawrocki.
The Supreme Court last week ordered a review of ballots from 13 electoral commissions.
On Friday, Supreme Court spokesman Aleksander Stepkowski said about 4,300 electoral protests had been filed and the number could reach 50,000. He confirmed the court had begun receiving some submissions past the deadline and would soon assess how many were valid.
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