Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk declares election victory as country awaits final results

Ballots are still being counted in Poland's elections as high voter turnout surged slows down announcement of decision despite Mr Tusk claiming victory

Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk declared the beginning of a new era for his country after opposition parties appeared to have won enough votes in the country's election to oust the governing nationalist conservative party.

The country now faces a period of political uncertainty after Poles voted in huge numbers in an election - voting in even greater numbers than when the nation ousted the communist authorities in 1989 - in which opposition parties appeared to gain a combined majority.

But the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party won more votes than any single party and said it would try to keep governing.

The final results have not been reported by the state electoral commission, but they are expected early on Tuesday.

The polling agency Ipsos released a so-called late exit poll on Monday morning, which combines the results of an exit poll carried out during Sunday's election and 50% of the votes counted.

It showed that the ruling nationalist conservative Law and Justice party with 36.6% of the votes cast, the opposition Civic Coalition led by Donald Tusk with 31%, the centrist Third Way coalition with 13.5%, the Left party with 8.6% and the far-right Confederation with 6.4%.

In order for a government to pass laws, it needs at least 231 seats in the 460-lower house of parliament, the Sejm.

The largest of the groups is Civic Coalition, led by Tusk, a former prime minister and former European Union president.

Mr Tusk told cheering supporters on Sunday as the exit poll was released: “I have been a politician for many years. I’m an athlete. Never in my life have I been so happy about taking seemingly second place.

"Poland won. Democracy has won. We have removed them from power."

“This result might still be better, but already today we can say this is the end of the bad time, this is end of Law and Justice rule," Mr Tusk added.

According to Ipsos, the ruling Law and Justice party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski appeared to have obtained 198 seats, a sharp fall from the current slim majority it has held for the past eight years.

Even with the far-right Confederation party it would not have a majority.

But the party's campaign manager, Joachim Brudzinski, said on Monday morning in an interview on the RMF FM radio broadcaster said that his party won and would try to build a government led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

The right-wing Law and Justice party has bickered with allies and faced accusations of eroding rule of law at home in its eight years in power.

If the result predicted by the exit poll holds, Law and Justice won, but also lost - it got more seats than any other party but fewer than in the previous election and not enough to be able to lead a government that can pass laws in the legislature.

At stake in the election were the health of the nation’s constitutional order, its legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and the foreign alliances of a country that has been a crucial ally to Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

LGBTQ+ rights activist Bart Staszewski called it the end of a “nightmare” for himself as a gay man and others.

“This is just the beginning of reclaiming of our country. The fight is ahead but we are breathing fresh air today,” Mr Staszewski said.

Environmental activist Dominika Lasota was emotional with relief, saying “we have our future.”

Law and Justice has eroded checks and balances to gain more control over state institutions, including the courts, public media and the electoral process itself.

The fate of Poland's relationship with Ukraine was also at stake. The Confederation party campaigned on an anti-Ukraine message, accusing the country of lacking gratitude to Poland for its help in Russia's war.

A referendum on migration, the retirement age and other issues was held simultaneously.

Some government opponents called on voters to boycott the referendum, saying it was an attempt by the government to galvanise its supporters.

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