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The victory of Duda, representing the Law and Justice Party, did not come easily, as he defeated the opposition candidate, Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, with a meager 51 per cent vote. LEAF PICTURE / AFP Janek Skarzynski
AFP
Poland’s winner of last month’s presidential election, incumbent President Andrzej Duda, is swearing in today for his second term. The victory of Duda, representing the Law and Justice Party, did not come easily, as he defeated the opposition candidate, Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, with a meager 51 per cent vote.
The victory was also dealt with by the Supreme Court, as thousands of opposition supporters and citizen groups had filed lawsuits to challenge a steady outcome. The court upheld the result but found several irregularities in the conduct of the election.
The impartiality of the judicial decision has also been called into question on the grounds that during the rule of law and justice the independence of the judiciary has been eroded by legislation and the power of the president over the judiciary has increased. Indeed, Duda’s victory is feared to further accelerate the deterioration of the rule of law in Poland.
The opposition has been dissatisfied with the election results and said it was investigating allegations of electoral fraud. Doubts have been raised, for example, that some Poles living abroad have not been able to vote.
According to the OSCE election observation mission, the election was marred by hostile campaigning and the bias of the state media.