Last minute surge pushes Law and Justice into first place

An OBOP exit poll for TVP showed backing for PiS at 27.6%, while support for PO stood at 24.1%. The reversal of fortunes follows a series of headline-grabbing attacks by Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński, the twin brothers who lead the party, and, if it borne out in the final count, would result in PiS being the stronger partner in the expected coalition with PO. "Those who are in favor of changes turned out to be the majority and this is the source of our optimism," said Jarosław Kaczyński after the preliminary exit poll results were announced. "The great plan of Poland's reconstruction and repair will be successful," he said. According to a Gazeta Wyborcza calculation the result would give PiS 162 seats in Sejm and 142 would go to PO. One of the biggest surprises, however, was the showing of the written-off former ruling party, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Made up of former communist and plagued by a series of scandals, it had looked in danger of even failing to cross the 5% threshold. However, exit polls indicated that the SLD would register enough support to claim third place with 11.3% of the vote, translating to some 50 parliamentary seats. (Warsaw Business Journal) A.F.