Presidential election result a sign of deep divisions in Polish nation
EUobserver wrote in a commentary on Monday that the result of the presidential runoff election in Poland was a sign of deep divisions among the Polish people.
Having presented results from 99.97 percent of polling stations on Monday morning, the State Electoral Commission (PKW) announced that incumbent President Andrzej Duda had received 51.21 percent of the votes in the run-off of the presidential election on Sunday.
"The vote has also shed light on deep divisions in Polish society, with voters in the eastern part of the country, over 50-years old, and mainly from rural areas, supporting Duda," EUobserver wrote, continuing that "conservative-nationalist Andrzej Duda has been re-elected as Poland's president, in a knife-edge election battle with the pro-European, centre-right Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski that split the country in two."
The portal noted that Sunday's election turnout had been the highest since the fall of communism 30 years ago.
In the opinion of the article's author, Eszter Zalan, "Duda's victory gives the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) government continued control over the main political institutions, allowing it to further erode judicial independence and political checks and balances, and continue its battles with the EU."
Zalan stated that in the past few weeks, Duda's allies had accused Germany of creating discord through media outlets viewed as independent, but co-owned by German companies.
PiS politicians also accused Trzaskowski of not having a "Polish soul" or a "Polish heart" because he was open to discussing the restitution of Jewish property lost during World War Two, and other public media suggested Trzaskowski would be controlled by Jewish interests, Zaltan wrote, adding that Duda pledged to defend "family values" and fight "LGBT-ideology" in a campaign filled with homophobic rhetoric.
