Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski are set to compete in a primary vote to secure the position of the Civic Coalition’s candidate in the next year’s presidential election.
The Civic Coalition (KO) is the senior party in the Polish ruling coalition, holding 156 out of 460 seats in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
Sikorski brings extensive experience in international and defense affairs, which supporters view as a key asset for his candidacy in the presidential race amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trzaskowski, on the other hand, has been widely viewed as the frontrunner due to his high-profile 2020 presidential bid, when he nearly beat the incumbent president Andrzej Duda, who eventually secured a second term.
The Warsaw mayor’s appeal is particularly strong among left-leaning younger voters, who constituted a backbone of his 2020 support, while Sikorski could be viewed as a more conservative candidate, able to win the votes of undecided centrists.
During a recent KO board meeting, both candidates expressed mutual respect ahead of the expected competition.
Recent polling by SW Research for the news website rp.pl has revealed divided preferences among the party’s supporters on security matters: 29.3% of them favor Trzaskowski, while 25.9% lean toward Sikorski.
The final candidate will be announced on December 7 following the primary vote likely held on November 23, Donald Tusk, Polish Prime Minister and leader of the KO, announced on Saturday morning.
Sikorski brings extensive experience in international and defense affairs, which supporters view as a key asset for his candidacy in the presidential race amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trzaskowski, on the other hand, has been widely viewed as the frontrunner due to his high-profile 2020 presidential bid, when he nearly beat the incumbent president Andrzej Duda, who eventually secured a second term.
The Warsaw mayor’s appeal is particularly strong among left-leaning younger voters, who constituted a backbone of his 2020 support, while Sikorski could be viewed as a more conservative candidate, able to win the votes of undecided centrists.
During a recent KO board meeting, both candidates expressed mutual respect ahead of the expected competition.
Recent polling by SW Research for the news website rp.pl has revealed divided preferences among the party’s supporters on security matters: 29.3% of them favor Trzaskowski, while 25.9% lean toward Sikorski.
The final candidate will be announced on December 7 following the primary vote likely held on November 23, Donald Tusk, Polish Prime Minister and leader of the KO, announced on Saturday morning.
