- Title: Incumbent and challenger neck-and-neck ahead of Polish presidential poll
- Date: 8th July 2020
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 2, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) 20-YEAR-OLD STUDENT FROM WROCLAW, TYTUS KOSELA, SAYING: "I haven't been in this world for a long time, but I feel first of all like a Polish citizen but also a citizen of Europe. And this choice is not only a choice to pick a president, it is the first step in choosing between the West and the East." WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 2, 2020) (REUTERS) MAN PASSING BY PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2020 14:24
- Keywords: Andrzej Duda Polish election Polish politics Rafal Trzaskowski presidential election second round voting
- Location: WARSAW, GNIEZNO, LOMZA, REDA AND KUZNICA, POLAND
- City: WARSAW, GNIEZNO, LOMZA, REDA AND KUZNICA, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00ICLY8U2H
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Poles will cast their ballots on Sunday (July 12) in the second round of the country's presidential election, which sees the incumbent and ruling conservatives' ally Andrzej Duda facing off against liberal challenger Rafal Trzaskowski.
The president's role is largely ceremonial in Poland, but he has the power to veto legislation put forward by parliament.
The run-off ballot on July 12 could become a turning point in the country's troubled relations with the European Union.
The centrist mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, appears to have a shot at unseating conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda, who together with the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government has presided over a deepening rift with Brussels.
Under Duda and PiS, which won national elections in 2015 and 2019, Warsaw has frequently stood alone or in a minority on a range of policy areas that the EU aims to decide by consensus.
While the president has only limited influence on policy of the PiS-led government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a win by Trzaskowski could precipitate a shift.
Duda got the most votes in the first round of elections on June 28 with 43.50% of the vote in the first-round and Trzaskowski came second with 30.46%, but four days before the election opinion polling puts the two candidates neck-and-neck.
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