Poland votes in presidential run-off

Warsaw, July 12 (IANS) Voting was underway on Sunday in Poland's presidential run-off election, where incumbent Andrzej Duda, an ally of the conservative government, is pitted against the opposition-backed Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.

Duda, supported by the conservative Law and Justice party seeking a second five-year term, topped the first round of voting on June 28 with 43.5 per cent of the vote but fell short of the 50 per cent needed to win outright, the BBC reported.

Trzaskowski followed close with 30.5 per cent of the ballots.

For the run-off on Sunday, polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m.

Speaking on the last day of campaigning on Friday, Duda said he would continue strengthening the Polish state, "built on our inviolable tradition which is sacred to all of us and in which we have been brought up for generations".

Meanwhile, Trzaskowski, who won the capital's race for mayor in 2018 promising "Warsaw for All", pledged to heal rifts with the European Union.

On Friday, a final poll, conducted by IBRiS for internet publication Onet.pl, confirmed a neck-and-neck between the two candidates.

The poll showed Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Warsaw and a candidate of the main opposition party Civic Platform (PO), at 47.4 per cent support, followed by Duda at 45.7 per cent.

Seven per cent were still undecided, the poll found.

Exit polls had indicated 62.9 per cent of voters cast their ballots on June 28, up from 49 per cent five years earlier.

The presidential race, originally planned for May 10, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown.

To date, Poland has a total of 37,521 COVID-19 infections, with 1,568 deaths.