Polish PM Tusk claims victory after lead in polls
Baku, October 10 (AZERTAC). Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has claimed victory in parliamentary elections after exit polls gave a clear lead to his Civic Platform party.
Initial results suggest Mr Tusk`s centre-right party won almost 10% more than its conservative challenger, the Law and Justice Party.
Opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has admitted defeat.
Civic Platform would be the first Polish party to win two consecutive terms since communism`s fall in 1989.
The official results from Sunday`s election are due to be published on Monday.
An exit poll by TNS OBOP for national TV indicates that Mr Tusk`s party won 39.6% of votes, comfortably ahead of the Law and Justice party - which gained 30.1% - but short of an absolute majority.
Mr Tusk said he would work on forming a governing coalition on Monday.
He is expected to renew his alliance with his current partner, the Peasants` Party, which has said it is willing to team up with the Civic Platform again if an offer is made.
The party won 8% of the vote, according to the exit polls.
A new left-wing party, Palikot`s Movement, appears to have won a surprise 10% of votes, while the Democratic Left Alliance has won 7.7%, according to the initial TNS OBOP poll.
Mr Tusk, 54, appears to have been rewarded for presiding over four years of strong economic growth, since winning a snap election in 2007.
Poland has been the only EU member state to avoid recession and this year its economy is forecast to grow by about 4%, the highest rate among the EU`s seven largest economies.
He campaigned on his economic success and also vowed to pursue a steady rapprochement with Russia, despite rows over missile defence and gas pipelines as well as the conduct of an inquiry into a plane crash that killed Poland`s president last year.
"It is the highest honour for me and for Civic Platform that we will be working for the next four years for all of you, regardless of who you voted for today," Mr Tusk told supporters on Sunday.
"In the next four years we will work twice as hard," he said, according to AP news agency.
The Law and Justice Party`s Jaroslaw Kaczynski is known for his mistrust of the two countries which invaded Poland during World War II, Germany and the USSR. He also attracts support from Polish Eurosceptics.
The voting turnout was 47.7%, TNS OBOP said.
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