Double victory for Polish right in presidential elections 

In the first round of the presidential elections, Mr. Tusk, the candidate of the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO) party, seems to have edged ahead of Mr. Kaczyński, the mayor of Warsaw and candidate of the Justice and Security (PiS) party. 

In the morning of 10 October 2005, partial results based on the 91.5% of votes counted gave Mr. Tusk 35.8%, as compared to Mr. Kaczyński's 33.3%. Polish voters will now be called in for another round of presidential elections on 23 October 2005. 

In the 9 October 2005 poll, far-right populist Andrzej Lepper came in third with around 16%. The social-democrat candidate Marek Borowski, although supported by outgoing President Aleksander Kwasniewski, failed to get much more than 10% and came in as fourth. According to figures published by GfK Polonia, a little less than 50% of eligible voters had taken part in the elections, 10% more than in the parliamentary elections two weeks earlier. In the 25 September poll, Mr. Kaczyński's Law and Justice party ended up slightly ahead of Mr. Tusk's PiS.

In his election campaign, Mr. Kaczyński played on Polish voters' uneasiness about EU accession and used social rhetoric in combination with unabashed populism on such matters as abortion, divorce and gays' rights. Mr. Tusk is positive about EU membership and Poland's joining the Euro. He propagates deregulation and gained a reputation as a free-market radical with his calls for a 15% flat tax.