简体中文
Poland's main opposition party filed an official protest with the Supreme Court on Thursday over what it describes as large-scale irregularities in last week's presidential election, in which conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda was re-elected for a second five-year term.
Duda, who was backed by the populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, defeated the opposition candidate, liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, by a thin margin of 51 percent to 49 percent – the slimmest presidential election victory in the country since 1989.
The Liberal Civic Platform (PO) party, which backed Trzaskowski, is asking for the election to be declared invalid as it claims the electoral process was neither "equal" nor "honest".
Supporters of Rafal Trzaskowski waiting for him to arrive during the presidential election in Warsaw, Poland, on 12 July. /Wojtek RADWANSKI/AFP
Irregularities were reported in foreign voting, (with ballots for Poles abroad going missing or not getting to voters on time), and in the media coverage of the election campaign in state television, which, according to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), was marked by "homophobic, xenophobic and anti-Semitic rhetoric."
During his campaign, Duda positioned himself against same-sex marriage and adoption, claiming he would defend traditional values against the "dangerous ideology" of LGBT rights.
Hundreds of challenges from individual people were also filed to the Supreme Court, which now has 21 days to review the protests and decide if any of them could determine the validity of the election.
The OSCE body monitoring the election recognized that state-media coverage was biased towards Duda but said the 12 July vote was organized professionally overall.
Though the protest to the Supreme Court is unlikely to succeed, the opposition believes the challenge will be a strong signal to the government.
"One of the reasons I am filing this election challenge today is so that those in power know that citizens are keeping an eye on them," said Barbara Nowacka of the Civic Platform. "Because if we decide not to react today, then they will tighten the screws even more in the next election."
Source(s): AP
