WARSAW, Poland — 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.
If the exit poll is confirmed by official results, which are due today, it 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 in its eight years of power but is now being punished by voter discontent.
Many Poles say they are fed up with corruption 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.
