WARSAW (AP) – Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski has been selected by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition as its candidate in next year’s presidential election, beating out Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.
Tusk announced the decision at a party gathering yesterday, a day after the party members voted in a primary.
Tusk said that Trzaskowski won nearly 75 per cent of the votes, and Sikorski slightly over 25 per cent. Sikorski accepted the result and congratulated Trzaskowski.
Trzaskowski has long been considered the obvious candidate for Tusk’s party, but was recently challenged by Sikorski’s decision to run.
Sikorski, who has served as a defence and foreign minister in past governments and has ties in Washington, had argued that his experience in security and diplomacy made him the better choice for the political change in the United States.
Trzaskowski is expected to be a leading candidate in a field of challengers from other parties.
The conservative opposition Law and Justice party led by Jarosław Kaczyński, which governed Poland from 2015-23, has not named its candidate yet. That person is expected to be picked by Kaczyński.
The date of the presidential election has not yet been announced but a first round is expected to be held in May, and a possible runoff two weeks later if no candidate gets an outright majority in the first round.
