Warsaw--Poles vote Sunday in the first round of a presidential election after a lacklustre campaign focused on national security and social issues, with incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski expected to win, but not without a struggle.
The 62-year-old historian, who was elected in 2010 and is close to the governing centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, appears unlikely to secure a second five-year term without a run-off vote on May 24.
While Komorowski has focused on the security challenges Warsaw faces amid heightened tensions with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, analysts say his rivals are trying to appeal to disenchanted voters by pledging to lower the retirement age and to bring taxes down.
"The campaign has highlighted a divide between people who benefited during the 25 years since the fall of communism in 1989, and those who feel lost," political analyst Eryk Mistewicz told AFP.
"Komorowski is backed by voters who think Poland has benefited from its renewed freedom, while all other candidates are supported by people who are unhappy," he added, referring to other 10 presidential contenders.
Poland is also gearing up for a parliamentary election this fall with early opinion polls pegging the PO narrowly ahead of its main rival, the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.
PiS presidential candidate Andrzej Duda, a 42-year-old lawyer running second, has promised voters generous social benefits in fiery campaign speeches.
AFP
