Polish president faces run-off as exit poll puts him in second place

Poland's president looked set to fail to win re-election on Sunday according to a snap exit poll, dragging him into a bruising run-off against his surging right-wing opponent, in a blow to the ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections in October.

Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of the ruling Civic Platform party, was widely expected to coast to victory just a few months ago. But a lacklustre campaign that underestimated his opposition saw him win just 32 per cent of the national ballot according to an exit poll conducted for local TV channels, far below even the worst expectations of his party.

The exit poll showed that Andrzej Duda, the candidate of the main opposition Law and Justice party, was on track to win the first round of the election with 35 per cent of the vote, well above forecasts. The two men will compete in a run-off over the next fortnight.

The contest is seen as a harbinger of parliamentary elections in which the centre-right Civic Platform could lose control of Europe's sixth-largest economy, despite two terms in government during which Poland's economic growth has far outstripped every other EU country and made it an emerging political power.

"You have to read these results as a warning for the people in power," said Mr Komorowski, as senior party officials looked on in shock and disbelief at a results event that was expected to be a celebration.

"Tomorrow morning I will present you the plan which will be based on the lessons we learnt during the first round of campaign," he added.

While Civic Platform officials had braced themselves for a disappointing result, none had assumed Mr Komorowski would not get the largest share of the vote.

"Anything below 40 is bad news for us and anything near 35 is a disaster," a senior Civic Platform official told the Financial Times before the vote, referring to Mr Komorowski's percentage.

A win for Mr Duda, previously a relatively unknown member of the European Parliament, would be a huge blow to Civic Platform, which has sought to portray Law and Justice as unpopular, unelectable and unfit to rule.

The result of the run-off could be affected by whether Pawel Kukiz, a former rock singer with no political experience who is on track to win 20 per cent of the first-round vote, decides to endorse either candidate.

Civic Platform had hoped that a strong first-round victory for Mr Komorowski, who was polling as high as 63 per cent in the campaign's early stages, would demoralise the opposition and give the party a boost leading into the parliamentary campaign.

"Me and my wife have voted for Duda," said Antoni, an 81-year-old in Warsaw who declined to provide his surname. "Those who rule right now, they have stolen it all. We have to give a chance to the other party. We hope they won't sell out Poland as the others do."

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