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Polish PM faces local-poll blow | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Exit polls from local elections in Poland have suggested the ruling conservative government has suffered a number of setbacks. | |
The exit polls showed the year-old coalition, headed by the Law and Justice party, behind in the fight for Warsaw council and other city bodies. | |
Members of the opposition centre-right Civic Platform were claiming victory. | |
The key battle for the post of Warsaw mayor looks likely to go to a second round later this month. | |
Overall turnout was forecast to be low. Three hours before polls closed, fewer than 35% of the 30m voters had cast ballots, the national election commission said. | |
Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski had been hoping for good results for his Law and Justice party to help rebuild a stable parliamentary majority after his governing coalition collapsed in September. | |
A scandal over a film apparently showing a prime ministerial aide trying to buy an opposition member's support sparked rival street protests in Warsaw last month. | A scandal over a film apparently showing a prime ministerial aide trying to buy an opposition member's support sparked rival street protests in Warsaw last month. |
Run-off likely | Run-off likely |
The exit polls suggested the Law and Justice Party had lost the fight for Warsaw city council and was behind in Lodz, Poznan and Krakow. | |
A Civic Platform leader, Jan Rokita, said: "Friends, it's time to celebrate. We've won." | |
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz faces a run-off for Warsaw mayor | |
Mr Kaczynski admitted there had been some setbacks, but said: "Despite unprecedented attacks, despite all the provocation we've faced, a large section of the population understands why we do what we do and supports us." | |
The contest for Warsaw mayors pits acting mayor Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz - a former prime minister for the Law and Justice party - against a strong Civic Platform challenger, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. | |
Exit polls put them neck-and-neck and the vote is likely to go to a run-off. | |
The prime minister's twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, was mayor of Warsaw until he was elected Poland's president in October last year. | The prime minister's twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, was mayor of Warsaw until he was elected Poland's president in October last year. |
The first official results are expected on Monday. | |
The election results have extra significance because the winners will have a say in how billions of euros in new European Union funding are spent. | The election results have extra significance because the winners will have a say in how billions of euros in new European Union funding are spent. |
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