Polish voters have placed themselves for a narrow presidential race after 10 years of Duda

When the Poles vote for a new president on Sunday, they should establish a second round of the Tour between the liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, and the national historian Karol Nawrocki.

If opinion polls are correct, this would mean a competition of June 1 between the candidates supported by the two parties that have dominated Polish politics in the past two decades, a domination that some voters say they are fed up.

Trzaskowski, the current first-courier, is the deputy chief of the civic center-right platform of Prime Minister Donald Tusk (PO).

Nawrocki, which is currently between 4% to 6% delay, is supported by the law for the opposition of the law and justice (IP) which lost power 18 months ago.

The president of Poland has the power of veto to the bills of the government, so what is happening in this election is important.

Tusk’s coalition does not have a majority important enough to overthrow this veto, that outgoing president Andrzej Duda, former member of PIS and Allied, used several times.

This barrier can now fall because Duda cannot appear again after serving two consecutive five -year terms.

Observers outside of Poland depicted the election of Tusk as the Prime Minister at the end of 2023 as a liberal democracy which spared after eight years of authoritarian populism on the right by the government led by PIS.

Critics have largely accused the udder of transforming public media into raw propaganda for its vision of the conservative Catholic world, to politicize the public service and the judiciary and to punish the judges who dared to oppose the reform.

But Tusk’s coalition government has also used questionable legal methods to combat control of public media.

Tusk suspended the right to migrants arriving at the border with the Bélarus to request asylum and has not held many campaign promises such as the liberalization of the strict law on abortion of the country.

“It is not the triumph of liberal values. It is a choice between a stupid and authoritarian right populism and a morally corrupt liberal populism,” Kultura Calreda columnist said at the BBC.

The presidential election could be won in the first round on Sunday with more than 50% of the vote, but the last opinion polls suggest that it will be decided on June 1.

Miroslaw Kaznowski, member of the Green Party which belongs to the widest Civic Coalition of Tusk, will vote for Trzaskowski, despite some reserves.

He told the BBC: “I am disappointed that the government of the coalition puts itself to the right electorate instead of defending its values.”

In one of the presidential debates, the candidate supported by Pis Nawrocki, proudly brandishing a Polish mini flag, tried to embarrass Trzaskowski by giving him a small rainbow flag.

In the past, the mayor of Warsaw was a vocal supporter of LGBTQ + rights and attended the equality marches in the capital.

Trzaskowski took the flag and put it on the ground, making Magdalena Biejat work, the candidate on the left, saying “I am ashamed, I will gladly take it”.

Kaznowski said: “Migration, LGBT +, women’s rights and the environment fell on the agenda, but we are always at the risk of falling back to an authoritarian government which aspires to oriental values.”

Tusk promised legal abortion of Polish women until the 12th week of pregnancy, but he did not hold his promise.

He chairs a large coalition built around his own central-right group which also includes left parts and smaller conservative parties.

Disagreements within the coalition on abortion and legalization of same -sex partnerships are stuck before President Duda has the chance to oppose their veto.

After the Russia War in neighboring Ukraine, state security dominated political discourse.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw, Sikorski, said that the “screening” of IP on security, including a difficult migration policy, was the key to winning the 2023 elections.

A few hours before the end of the campaign, Tusk accused a group of Russian pirates of attacking websites belonging to parties of the government. The Tusk civic platform site was not available with that of a small agrarian conservative partner, the Polish people’s party.

This year, Poland plans to spend 4.7% of its GDP in defense, a greater proportion than any other member of NATO.

Tusk wants to offer all adult men the possibility of doing military training. Trzaskowski was photographed through basic exercises during the campaign.

The difficult messages of the liberal mayor on security and migration led IP to accuse him of saying anything to win votes.

This is a point of view shared by the official Wojciech Karlik, who plans to vote for the candidate supported by PIS, Nawrocki.

“Nawrocki will fight for the interests of Poland in the EU. He is reliable unlike Trzaskowski who continues to change his mind on questions like migration,” he said.

Nawrocki was recently criticized for accusations, which he denies, that he bought an apartment from the advice to an elderly person in poor health with a 90% discount at market prices in exchange for promises of assistance and care.

According to the admission of his team, Nawrocki was surprised when he lost contact with the retiree last December. Local media have indicated that the man had been living in a nursing home paid by taxpayers for six months at this stage.

After a tumult, Nawrocki said he would give the apartment to the charity. Opinion polls suggest that the accusations have not damaged the chances of Nawrocki so far.

But the figures indicate that none of the 13 candidates will win sufficient votes to avoid runoff between the two fronts.

Worse, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, 75, and PO of Tusk are the two parties that have dominated Polish politics in the past 20 years and some voters have fed up with the duopoly.

In March, the 38-year-old far-right libertarian candidate and Slawomir Mentzen brewing entrepreneur, who attracted voters, in particular young men, with his anti-migrant and tax cup in his “beer with Mentzen” meetings in small towns.

But his support has dropped since he gave an interview calling for the introduction of student tuition fees and the ban on abortion, even in the event of rape.

Aleksandra Januszewicz, a psychotherapist, told the BBC: “I’m fed up with the grip of Po and worse. The policy that I see is mainly a form of populism that plays the emotions of voters.

“I am not yet decided (who to vote), but I will vomit after.”

Human rights lawyer, Malgorzata Szuleka, agrees that there is fatigue, both with the non-compliance with the government of Duopoly and Tusk.

“Polish politics seems to go to McDonalds,” she told the BBC. “You hope for something else and you go with a hamburger and fries.

“My hope is for a president who can freeze polarization in the country, and we can start talking to us.”