Local elections in Poland test new Tusk government after 4 months in power

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Voters across Poland will vote in local elections on Sunday in the first electoral test for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition government, almost four months after it came to power .

< p>Voters will elect mayors as well as members of municipal councils and provincial assemblies, an important exercise of self-government that is one of the great achievements of the democratic transformation that Poland achieved when 'it got rid of communism 35 years ago.

In total, almost 190,000 registered candidates are running for local government positions in this central European country of 38 million residents.

The second round of votes must take place two weeks later, on April 21, in cases where the mayoral candidates do not win at least 50% of the votes in the first round on Sunday .

Opinion polls released in the days leading up to the vote showed the two largest political parties neck and neck: Tusk's Civic Party. Coalition, an electoral coalition led by its centrist, pro-European Union party, Civic Platform, and Law and Justice, a national conservative party that governed the country from 2015 until last year.

Several others groups lag behind both. major groups, including the Third Way coalition, the left and the radical right Confederation party.

Tusk's coalition government, which includes the Third Way and the left, together won the national elections in October. This result, despite a record participation, sounded the death knell for eight difficult years of rule by Law and Justice, accused by the European Union of violating democratic standards with its changes in the judicial system and public media.

Tusk won. on his promises to reverse many of these changes and is trying to implement this program, but it is not easy. His attempts to restore the independence of the judiciary are a long process that will require the adoption of new legislation.

And the promise to liberalize the strict abortion law is being obstructed by conservatives in Tusk's own coalition.

The vote is also a test for Law and Justice, which experienced a series of elections. victories and dominated the political scene for years, enjoying strong support in conservative rural areas. However, his harsh policies towards LGBTQ+ and his restriction of the right to abortion were rejected by many young people and women voters who went to the polls in October.

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