Poles vote for new president
Source: Agencies |
June 21, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
POLES were choosing a new president yesterday more than two months after their leader was killed in a plane crash, and his surviving twin brother faces an uphill battle in defeating the favorite candidate.
The contest centers around Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, the acting president, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the identical twin of the late president. There are eight other candidates.
Poland is the only European Union country to have avoided recession during the global economic downturn. The election will determine how it fares amid the new debt crisis and shape its stance on issues such as the adoption of the euro, welfare reform and Poland's mission in Afghanistan.
More than 30 million of Poland's 38 million citizens are registered to vote in nearly 26,000 polling stations across the country. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, the two top contenders will compete in a runoff on July 4.
The president is elected for a five-year term separately from the government. Although many duties are symbolic, the president can veto laws and, as commander in chief, has influence over foreign military missions.
President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were among 96 people killed when their plane crashed while trying to land in heavy fog in Smolensk, Russia on April 10.
The front-runner, Komorowski, is a pro-European Union, moderate member of the governing Civic Platform party. He has pledged to work closely with the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk to adopt the euro in about five years, end the unpopular military mission in Afghanistan and promote pro-market reforms.
Polling in second place is Kaczynski, a social conservative whose main goals are to fight crime and corruption, scale back market reforms in order to preserve a strong welfare state and promote Roman Catholic values. He is more skeptical about the European Union and the euro.
The contest centers around Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, the acting president, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the identical twin of the late president. There are eight other candidates.
Poland is the only European Union country to have avoided recession during the global economic downturn. The election will determine how it fares amid the new debt crisis and shape its stance on issues such as the adoption of the euro, welfare reform and Poland's mission in Afghanistan.
More than 30 million of Poland's 38 million citizens are registered to vote in nearly 26,000 polling stations across the country. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, the two top contenders will compete in a runoff on July 4.
The president is elected for a five-year term separately from the government. Although many duties are symbolic, the president can veto laws and, as commander in chief, has influence over foreign military missions.
President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were among 96 people killed when their plane crashed while trying to land in heavy fog in Smolensk, Russia on April 10.
The front-runner, Komorowski, is a pro-European Union, moderate member of the governing Civic Platform party. He has pledged to work closely with the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk to adopt the euro in about five years, end the unpopular military mission in Afghanistan and promote pro-market reforms.
Polling in second place is Kaczynski, a social conservative whose main goals are to fight crime and corruption, scale back market reforms in order to preserve a strong welfare state and promote Roman Catholic values. He is more skeptical about the European Union and the euro.
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