Bronislaw Komorowski, Poland’s President, Concedes Defeat to Right-Wing Challenger Andrzej Duda
By RICK LYMAN

WARSAW — Andrzej Duda, the photogenic, 43-year-old candidate of Poland’s leading right-wing party, stunned the nation’s political establishment on Sunday by wresting the presidency from the incumbent, Bronislaw Komorowski, who is allied with the party that has governed during eight years of stability and prosperity.

Official results will not be released until Monday, at the earliest, but a combination of exit polls and early vote tallies showed that Mr. Duda had won a fairly decisive victory, with 52 percent of the votes, over Mr. Komorowski, with 48 percent.

Mr. Komorowski conceded defeat before a glum gathering of his supporters saying, “It didn’t work out this time.” He congratulated Mr. Duda, saying, “I wish him a good presidency, because I wish Poland well.”

The position is a largely ceremonial one in Poland. Mr. Duda’s victory, though, raises the real prospect that Civic Platform, the center-right party that has controlled the government since 2007, will be turned out in parliamentary elections this fall.

Polish voters, clearly eager for a change, rejected pleas from Mr. Komorowski that electing Mr. Duda would threaten Poland’s economic expansion and its close relationships with Germany and the European Union.

“Those who voted for me have voted for change,” Mr. Duda told a cheering throng in central Warsaw. “I know that we can be united and that together we can rebuild our country.”

For his part, Mr. Komorowski, 62, tried to reassure Civic Platform supporters that his loss did not mean the party would be turned out of government later this year.

“We have experienced worse trials, and we have fought worse battles,” he said. “It is only up to us to turn this failure into success. We will win.”

Mr. Komorowski ostensibly ran as an independent, but was a Civic Platform member when he served in Parliament and has continued to be closely allied with the party.

The election was being watched with great interest in Washington and across Europe because Poland, with the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, has been assuming a larger and more energetic role in continental affairs.

Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, was elected president of the European Council last year, for instance, with the eager backing of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

Both parties support Poland’s membership in NATO and the European Union and take a hard line against the policies of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. But Mr. Duda’s party, Law and Justice, is much more socially conservative and nationalistic and tends to be more skeptical about surrendering authority over Polish affairs to European partners.

Civic Platform has forged very close ties with Germany, and sought a larger role and more prominent voice in European Union affairs.

Law and Justice, if it claims the more powerful prime minister’s seat in November elections, is expected to emphasize regional alliances and adopt a more distant relationship with the European Union.

“If they win power, Law and Justice will build alliances with Lithuania and Ukraine, and neglect Germany and France,” said Radoslaw Markowski, head of the comparative politics department at the Institute of Political Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “They have a deeply rooted Euro-skepticism.”

波蘭總統大選 右翼杜達勝

波蘭總統選舉24日二輪決選，出口民調顯示保守執政黨「公民議壇」的現任總統科莫羅斯基得票率47%，輸給屬於右翼「法律正義黨」而名氣遠不如他的杜達，杜達獲得53%。

出口民調結果如果獲得官方計票結果證實，對公民議壇今秋的國會選舉表現將是個警訊。同屬「公民議壇」的總理帕契屆時也面臨連任的挑戰。

官方計票結果將在周一揭曉。

出口民調公布數分鐘後，62歲的科莫羅斯基承認敗選，對民眾表示：「我尊重諸位的選擇，並且希望我的挑戰者當一個成功的總統。」

對市場友善、親歐的公民論壇已執政八年，主持了波蘭空前的經濟成長，國際形象快速上升，包括前總理圖斯克去年底當選歐洲理事會主席。

但許多波蘭人認為經濟成長徒有空名，百姓薪水仍然偏低，有工作者也沒有就業安全感，而且許多波蘭人寧願到海外討生活。此外，連串貪汙醜聞造成執政黨形象大壞，人民日益不滿，就反映在選票上。

「法律正義黨」獲得將近十年來最大的勝利。杜達出身律師，是現任國會議員，政見包括降低退休年齡，主張國家控制目前三分之二由外國人擁有的銀行。

選戰過程中，杜達經常提到，過去十年，有200多萬波蘭人到英國等西歐國家謀生。

波蘭著名的政治諷刺家沃斯基說，經濟成長，大多數波蘭人無感：「波蘭需要改變，杜達是波蘭需要的改變信號。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/europe/poland-president-election-bronislaw-komorowski-andrzej-duda.html

2015-05-25．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．編譯彭淮棟