Daily Times

Poland’s pro-EU opposition was set to win a parliamentary majority with almost all the votes tallied early Tuesday, after a national election which saw the highest turnout since the fall of Communism.

The surprise result would end eight years of rule by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, during which relations with the European Union — and in recent weeks with war-torn Ukraine — have dramatically soured.

The opposition, led by former EU chief Donald Tusk, had billed Sunday’s parliamentary elections as the “last chance” to save democracy. “This is the end of grim times,” Tusk declared late on Sunday. With more than 99 percent of votes counted, PiS was in the lead but without a majority at 35.6 percent, while Tusk’s Civic Coalition, the Third Way and Left parties together had 53.5 percent.

Official results were expected later on Tuesday.

Putting the liberal opposition in power would bring a huge political shift in Poland, countering the PiS party’s nationalist hardline Catholic vision for the country.

The election was dominated by issues such as Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, migrants and women’s rights and more than 74 percent of voters went to the polls.

Aleksandra Metlewicz, an interior designer, said women’s rights were “crucial” to her in the vote.

The 33-year-old said she hoped Poland would come out of the “Middle Ages”.

For voters in the capital Warsaw, where support for nationalists is traditionally lower, the outcome predicted in exit polls already heralded major changes.