In Poland, the presidential election will be held on May 18

The presidential election in Poland will be held on May 18, the President of Parliament announced on Wednesday, January 8, with the ruling pro-European coalition hoping that its candidate will succeed in succeeding the outgoing conservative, Andrzej Duda.

Poland is currently experiencing a difficult cohabitation between the coalition government of Donald Tusk and President Duda, close to the nationalist party PiS (Law and Justice), who vetoes most of the government's legislative initiatives and perpetuates the inherited legal chaos. of the previous nationalist government. PiS governed the country between 2015 and 2023, before losing power, but remains the largest party in Parliament.

“The vote to choose the next president of Poland will take place on May 18”Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia told journalists, adding that, if necessary, a second round would be organized on 1^er June. By electing the president, “we elect the head of the armed forces, we elect someone who will lead the state in these very difficult times, for the next five years”underlined Mr. Holownia.

The current head of state will leave his post in August

The election campaign coincides with Poland's rotating presidency of the European Union until the end of June.

Four months before the announced election, all the main political forces have already nominated their candidate. Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition has nominated as its candidate the mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, currently the favorite in the race, according to all recent polls, which credit him with around 36% of voting intentions.

PiS has decided to promote historian Karol Nawrocki, former director of the World War II Museum, currently head of the Institute of National Memory (IPN), responsible for prosecuting Nazi and Soviet crimes against Poles. Enjoying nearly 29% of voting intentions, Mr. Nawrocki could join Mr. Trzaskowski in the second round.

Other candidates also include Mr. Holownia, who will run for the post of head of state under the label of his Poland 2050 party, and Slawomir Mentzen, of the far-right Confederation party. Both are credited with around 10% of voting intentions.

The current head of state, who is coming to the end of his second and final term, will leave his post in August.