Poles To Vote On June 28 In Presidential Election Delayed By Virus

Poland will vote on June 28 in a presidential election delayed by the coronavirus, the parliament speaker announced Wednesday, as opinion polls suggested a liberal opposition candidate could oust the government-backed incumbent

Warsaw, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Jun, 2020 ) :Poland will vote on June 28 in a presidential election delayed by the coronavirus, the parliament speaker announced Wednesday, as opinion polls suggested a liberal opposition candidate could oust the government-backed incumbent.

President Andrzej Duda, long considered the hands-down election favourite, appeared this week to be losing support as the economic hardship triggered by the coronavirus lockdown began to bite.

Backed by the governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, 48-year-old Duda might even lose to liberal candidate and current Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, also 48, according to the latest opinion polls.

"I'm calling the presidential election... for Sunday, June 28," Parliament speaker Elzbieta Witek told reporters on Wednesday.

This was the date floated last week by her political ally, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of the governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party -- and widely regarded as Poland's de facto decision-maker.

Originally scheduled for May 10, the vote was pushed back at the last minute by Kaczynski because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trzaskowski is a latecomer to the race, and must collect 100,000 signatures backing his candidacy within the next seven days.

Duda and eight other candidates have been allowed to use the public backing and registrations they secured for the postponed May 10 ballot.

A run-off will likely be held on July 12 as no contender is expected to win more than 50 percent support for an outright first-round victory.

-