Latest news with #Trzaskowski
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Polish liberal candidate's team lodge protest over presidential election
WARSAW (Reuters) -The campaign team of the defeated candidate in Poland's presidential election lodged a protest over alleged voting irregularities, its head said late on Monday, part of a wave of complaints from supporters of liberal Rafal Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was narrowly defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 second round, with the nationalist candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party getting 50.89% of the vote. Media reported irregularities in the second round and the Supreme Court has ordered a recount in 13 commissions, but this won't affect the final result materially. "In a democratic electoral process, every voter's vote must be guaranteed due respect by state institutions. The election protest of (Trzaskowski's) campaign representative was sent to the Supreme Court," the chief of Trzaskowski's campaign, Wiola Paprocka, wrote on X late on Monday. She gave no details of the wording of the protest. Another member of the Trzaskowski campaign team, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on Saturday he was filing a protest privately, pointing to an unusual increase in spoiled or blank ballots in areas where Trzaskowski won in the first round. He said that according to a model from UCE Research, there were 800 polling stations where Nawrocki had a "suspiciously high" score, and referred to irregularities in polling stations where a recount has already been ordered. The PiS party says that Trzaskowski's supporters are trying to undermine Poles' faith in the democratic process. Current president and PiS ally Andrzej Duda said on June 9 that "liberal-leftists, want to... take away our freedom of choice." Poles had until Monday to lodge protests with the Supreme Court, and the court has around two weeks to hear them. The Polish electoral commission on Monday confirmed the result of the election but said that in the second round, there were "incidents that could have affected the outcome of the vote." It said it would leave an assessment of these incidents to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokesperson said on Monday that it had already registered over 3,000 protests and expected many more.


The Star
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Polish liberal candidate's team lodge protest over presidential election
FILE PHOTO: Civic Coalition presidential candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski flashes the victory sign during the election evening, in Warsaw, Poland, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo WARSAW (Reuters) -The campaign team of the defeated candidate in Poland's presidential election lodged a protest over alleged voting irregularities, its head said late on Monday, part of a wave of complaints from supporters of liberal Rafal Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was narrowly defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 second round, with the nationalist candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party getting 50.89% of the vote. Media reported irregularities in the second round and the Supreme Court has ordered a recount in 13 commissions, but this won't affect the final result materially. "In a democratic electoral process, every voter's vote must be guaranteed due respect by state institutions. The election protest of (Trzaskowski's) campaign representative was sent to the Supreme Court," the chief of Trzaskowski's campaign, Wiola Paprocka, wrote on X late on Monday. She gave no details of the wording of the protest. Another member of the Trzaskowski campaign team, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on Saturday he was filing a protest privately, pointing to an unusual increase in spoiled or blank ballots in areas where Trzaskowski won in the first round. He said that according to a model from UCE Research, there were 800 polling stations where Nawrocki had a "suspiciously high" score, and referred to irregularities in polling stations where a recount has already been ordered. The PiS party says that Trzaskowski's supporters are trying to undermine Poles' faith in the democratic process. Current president and PiS ally Andrzej Duda said on June 9 that "liberal-leftists, want to... take away our freedom of choice." Poles had until Monday to lodge protests with the Supreme Court, and the court has around two weeks to hear them. The Polish electoral commission on Monday confirmed the result of the election but said that in the second round, there were "incidents that could have affected the outcome of the vote." It said it would leave an assessment of these incidents to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokesperson said on Monday that it had already registered over 3,000 protests and expected many more. (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Alan Charlish and Bernadette Baum)


Reuters
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Polish liberal candidate's team lodge protest over presidential election
WARSAW, June 17 (Reuters) - The campaign team of the defeated candidate in Poland's presidential election lodged a protest over alleged voting irregularities, its head said late on Monday, part of a wave of complaints from supporters of liberal Rafal Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was narrowly defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 second round, with the nationalist candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party getting 50.89% of the vote. Media reported irregularities in the second round and the Supreme Court has ordered a recount in 13 commissions, but this won't affect the final result materially. "In a democratic electoral process, every voter's vote must be guaranteed due respect by state institutions. The election protest of (Trzaskowski's) campaign representative was sent to the Supreme Court," the chief of Trzaskowski's campaign, Wiola Paprocka, wrote on X late on Monday. She gave no details of the wording of the protest. Another member of the Trzaskowski campaign team, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on Saturday he was filing a protest privately, pointing to an unusual increase in spoiled or blank ballots in areas where Trzaskowski won in the first round. He said that according to a model from UCE Research, there were 800 polling stations where Nawrocki had a "suspiciously high" score, and referred to irregularities in polling stations where a recount has already been ordered. The PiS party says that Trzaskowski's supporters are trying to undermine Poles' faith in the democratic process. Current president and PiS ally Andrzej Duda said on June 9 that "liberal-leftists, want to... take away our freedom of choice." Poles had until Monday to lodge protests with the Supreme Court, and the court has around two weeks to hear them. The Polish electoral commission on Monday confirmed the result of the election but said that in the second round, there were "incidents that could have affected the outcome of the vote." It said it would leave an assessment of these incidents to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokesperson said on Monday that it had already registered over 3,000 protests and expected many more.

Straits Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Polish liberal candidate's team lodge protest over presidential election
WARSAW - The campaign team of the defeated candidate in Poland's presidential election lodged a protest over alleged voting irregularities, its head said late on Monday, part of a wave of complaints from supporters of liberal Rafal Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was narrowly defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 second round, with the nationalist candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party getting 50.89% of the vote. Media reported irregularities in the second round and the Supreme Court has ordered a recount in 13 commissions, but this won't affect the final result materially. "In a democratic electoral process, every voter's vote must be guaranteed due respect by state institutions. The election protest of (Trzaskowski's) campaign representative was sent to the Supreme Court," the chief of Trzaskowski's campaign, Wiola Paprocka, wrote on X late on Monday. She gave no details of the wording of the protest. Another member of the Trzaskowski campaign team, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on Saturday he was filing a protest privately, pointing to an unusual increase in spoiled or blank ballots in areas where Trzaskowski won in the first round. He said that according to a model from UCE Research, there were 800 polling stations where Nawrocki had a "suspiciously high" score, and referred to irregularities in polling stations where a recount has already been ordered. The PiS party says that Trzaskowski's supporters are trying to undermine Poles' faith in the democratic process. Current president and PiS ally Andrzej Duda said on June 9 that "liberal-leftists, want to... take away our freedom of choice." Poles had until Monday to lodge protests with the Supreme Court, and the court has around two weeks to hear them. The Polish electoral commission on Monday confirmed the result of the election but said that in the second round, there were "incidents that could have affected the outcome of the vote." It said it would leave an assessment of these incidents to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokesperson said on Monday that it had already registered over 3,000 protests and expected many more. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.


Japan Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk survives vote of confidence as he bids to reassert control
By VANESSA GERA Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government survived a vote of confidence in the Polish parliament on Wednesday, with supporters rising and applauding him and chanting his name. Lawmakers voted 243-210 in favor of the government. There were no abstentions. Tusk requested the vote following the defeat of his political ally in the recent presidential election, a loss that left him weakened and in need of a way to reassert his authority. Tusk requested a vote of confidence in the wake of the June 1 loss of Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski — his close ally — to nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki. Backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Nawrocki is set to replace outgoing President Andrzej Duda, another conservative who repeatedly blocked Tusk's reform efforts. 'I am asking for a vote of confidence with full conviction that we have a mandate to govern, to take full responsibility for what is happening in Poland,' Tusk said. Most of the power in Poland's parliamentary system rests with an elected parliament and a government chosen by the parliament. However, the president can veto legislation and represents the country abroad. 'Anyone who is ready to move forward with me, with the government, and above all with our voters, regardless of these momentary emotions, and build a better Poland, should vote today for a vote of confidence in our government," Tusk said. The vote, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, is widely expected to go in Tusk's favor. His four-party coalition holds a narrow but stable majority in the 460-seat Sejm, Poland's lower house. A loss for Trump would trigger the formation of a caretaker government and may open the door for an early parliamentary election. That could potentially returning power to the conservative Law and Justice party, in coalition with the far-right Confederation party, whose candidate placed third in the presidential race. Tusk had long counted on a Trzaskowski victory to break the institutional deadlock created by Duda's vetoes. Instead, he now faces an incoming president aligned with the nationalist opposition and openly hostile to his government's legislative priorities. 'We cannot close our eyes to reality,' he said. 'A president who was reluctant to accept the changes we proposed for Poland and our voters is being replaced by a president who is at least equally reluctant to those changes and proposals.' But he also argued that Trzaskowski's narrow defeat indicates that there is continued strong support for those who share his views. The election result has rattled the already uneasy governing coalition, which spans from center-left to center-right and has struggled to deliver on key campaign pledges, including liberalizing Poland's abortion law and legalizing same-sex civil unions. Tusk acknowledged the growing strains in Wednesday's address. Many are also blaming Tusk for contributing to Trzaskowski's loss. Much of the criticism has come from within his coalition, as his partners examine whether they are better off sticking with him or risking a collapse of the coalition. Some are calling for a new prime minister to be selected. There are questions about what Tusk can realistically achieve before the next parliamentary election, scheduled for late 2027, and whether the coalition will even survive that long amid a surge in popularity for the far right. Polish media and political analysts are debating whether this might be the 68-year-old Tusk's political twilight. 'I know the taste of victory, I know the bitterness of defeat, but I don't know the word surrender,' Tusk said. As part of his fresh start, he announced plans for a government reconstruction in July that will include 'new faces.' He said a government spokesman would be appointed in June — an acknowledgement that the coalition needs a way to present a unified message. So far Tusk has sought to communicate his policies to the public himself on social media and in news conferences. Tusk served as Polish prime minister from 2007 to 2014 and then as president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He became Poland's prime minister again in December 2023 in a country exhausted by the pandemic and inflation, and with political divisions deep and bitter. In a sign of those divisions, half of the parliament hall was empty on Wednesday, with many lawmakers from the right-wing Law and Justice party boycotting his speech. Tusk said their absence showed disrespect to the nation. As lawmakers held a debate that went on for hours, an extreme far-right lawmaker, Grzegorz Braun, destroyed an exhibition promoting LGBTQ+ equality in the corridors of parliament, pulling down posters and trampling on them. Braun, who has been accused of being antisemitic and extinguished Hannukah candles in parliament with a fire extinguisher in 2023, was a presidential candidate who won more than 6% of the votes in the first round of the recent election. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.