Polish eurosceptic conservatives win poll

“We must always remember that we are serving”. And the party’s promise to use coal as the main energy source for decades to come, and to use public money to finance the economically unviable coal mines clearly contradicts the EU’s mainstream climate and energy policy (which Law and Justice would like to opt-out from), putting Warsaw on a collision course with Brussels.

The poll says Kukiz won 9 percent of the vote Sunday.

The election ended the eight-year rule of the Civic Platform party and its junior agrarian ally, a period of uninterrupted economic growth and good relations with Germany but marred by internal struggles and recent scandals within the ruling camp. Among his proposals is a lower flat tax of 16 percent on personal income, corporations and as a sales tax. The fact that so many voted for parties representing nationalist-conservative, xenophobic and right-wing views may suggest that out of a general feeling of insecurity (emerging from the crisis of capitalism, refugees, globalisation, and individualisation) many were keen on electing parties that promoted dominant Polish traditions and sentiments, which stress the importance of community values, defined in an narrow, nationalist terms.

The new parliament must meet by November 24 to form a government that is obliged to be sworn in by December 8.

That is the prediction of an Ipsos exit poll, and must still be confirmed by official results. Several small parties are also running, spanning the political spectrum from ultra-right to liberal and extreme left, according to Reuters.

Party leader Kaczyński, whose twin brother and former Polish president Lech Kaczyński died in the Polish Air Force jet crash in Smolensk in 2010, is still expected to hold sway over government. It accused the previous liberal governments of betraying Polish interests and it maintained that its electoral success would also be a success for Poland – helping it too regain national sovereignty and independence. At the time, Lech turned to his brother, and said “Mr. Chairman, mission accomplished”.

“We want, probably as of January 2016, to introduce two taxes that are important for us, including a tax on banks – it will be a tax on assets with a rate of 0.39 percent – and a tax on supermarkets”, he said.

He also said his party would govern the country with humility despite its decisive win.

The candidate for prime minister, Beata Szydlo, waves after her Eurosceptic party defeats the pro-EU Civic Platform. Markets are set to “normalise once the party’s policy starts to show a less damaging approach”, he said.

Writing for OpenEurope.org, Swidlicki said if the exit polls proved correct and PiS won enough seats for an overall majority, it would be the first party to have done so in post-Communist times.

For the first time since democracy was established in Poland in 1989, a coalition will not be required in parliament. Prime Minister David Cameron aims to deny welfare and in-work benefits to European Union migrants for four years.

Voter turnout was 51.6%.

Voters in Warsaw are voicing criticism of the establishment while declaring support for an array of new, small right- and left-wing parties. Here are key facts about the 52-year-old politician. While Poland’s currency, stocks and bonds have underperformed emerging-market peers amid investor concern that the opposition will erode profitability of banks or overextend government spending, analysts at banks including UniCredit and PKO Bank Polski expect markets to rebound following the vote.

The party has had bad blood for years with Tusk, and a few political observers find it nearly inconceivable that the party could give its support to a man they have vilified for years.