Presidential election - Tusk 38.7%, Kaczynski 32.2%

As neither of the two front runners won an absolute majority in the first round a second election will have to be held on October 23. In third place came Andrzej Lepper of Self Defense with 13.2% support, and  behind him was the SDPL's Marek Borowski (10.2%). Donald Tusk stated that the first place for him is, "A huge victory of Polish optimism, Polish energy and pride." Lech Kaczynski assured his supporters that during the next two weeks he will catch up with Tusk. The politician believes that, "The prospect of a Poland based on solidarity is for most Poles much more attractive than the vision of a liberal experiment." Andrzej Lepper, in turn, stated that the results of the elections were established by election polls long time ago. "Democracy did not win," he commented. He added, however, that he is content with his result, as it was over five times higher than in previous presidential elections. Voter turnout was just under 50%. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7; Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.F.