Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski conceded defeat in the county's presidential election Sunday after an exit poll showed him trailing Andrzej Duda, a previously little-known right-wing politician. Duda secured the majority of votes with 53 percent, thus defeating Komorowski, who got 47 percent of public trust.
The result marks a significant blow to the ruling Civic Platform party ahead of more important parliamentary elections this year. The pro-market and pro-European party has overseen unprecedented growth during its eight years of power but is now being punished by voter discontent, AP said in a report.
Many Poles say they are fed up with corruption scandals involving members of the ruling party, and with the fact that economic growth has not trickled down to many ordinary Poles.
The exit poll said 52 percent of the votes in Sunday's final round of the presidential election went to Duda and 48 percent to Komorowski. It was conducted by Ipsos and reported by the private broadcaster TVN. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
"I congratulate my competitor Andrzej Duda and wish him a successful presidency," said Komorowski, whose term ends in August.
Duda belongs to the Law and Justice party of former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a right-wing party that mixes traditional national values like Catholicism with calls for a stronger state role in the economy.
The party ran the government from 2005-2007 and the presidency from 2005 to 2010, when President Lech Kaczynski, the party chairman's twin brother, was killed in a plane crash in Russia.
During the campaign, Duda, a lawyer and member of the European Parliament who was previously little known in Poland, called for a reduction in the retirement age. He also said he wants Poland to retake control of the banks, two-thirds of which are foreign owned.
