United opposition candidate wins closely watched mayoral race in Poland

Konrad Fijołek, a candidate jointly supported by opposition parties ranging from left to centre-right, has won Sunday’s mayoral election in the city of Rzeszów.

The local electoral commission announced overnight that Fijołek had received 56.5% of votes – a majority that meant he won outright in the first round without requiring a run-off. The candidate of the nationally ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Ewa Leniart, trailed in second with 23.6%.

The race had been seen as not only a test of support for the government and the opposition, but also a gauge of the unity and strategy within both camps amid recent internal disputes and talk of potential early parliamentary elections.

The campaign saw visits to the city from major national political figures, including PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński – Poland’s de facto leader – and the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, a figurehead of the opposition.

The vote in Rzeszów, a city of 200,000 in southeastern Poland, was called after the resignation of long-serving mayor Tadeusz Ferenc. The 81-year-old had run the city since 2002, but decided in February to quit for health reasons following complications in his recovery from COVID-19.

Although Ferenc was until 2019 a member of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), he announced that he would support the candidacy of Marcin Warchoł, a current deputy justice minister, to replace him. Warchoł is a member of United Poland (Solidarna Polska), the most right-wing party in Poland’s ruling coalition.

Yet despite Ferenc’s support – as well as what critics claimed was unfair use of justice ministry resources to support his campaign – Warchoł finished third in the race with only 10.7% of the votes.

Although Warchoł’s candidacy was supported by another junior partner in Poland’s government, Agreement (Porozumienie), the main ruling party, PiS, decided to stand its own candidate, Leniart. Over the last year there have been growing tensions between PiS and its two partners.

Meanwhile, the main opposition groups came together to jointly support the candidacy of Fijołek, the deputy leader of Rzeszów’s city council.

He was backed by the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), Poland’s largest opposition party; The Left, its second largest; Poland 2050 (Polska 2050), a new centrist movement that is currently the most popular opposition group in polls; and the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL).

This show of unity had come after months of tension within the opposition. KO has been pushing for a broad coalition, ranging from left to centre-right, to be formed in order to oust PiS. But last month, The Left, PSL and Poland 2050 broke ranks to help PiS ratify implementation of the European Union Covid recovery fund.

Fijołek had led in polls throughout the race. Whereas PiS has strong support in the countryside and many smaller towns, the opposition tends to dominate in larger cities.

Following the release of exit polls last night showing a near-certain victory, Fijołek declared: “In Rzeszów, unity won. In Poland, where decisions are so strong, unity will prevail. From here begins a return to unity, to democracy. I hope we sent a clear signal to Poland that it is possible to unite around important ideas.”

Warchoł, meanwhile, told Wirtualna Polska that the result was “a lesson for the [ruling coalition]. You have to put up one candidate. Division leads nowhere. These elections showed that.”

The leader of Agreement, Jarosław Gowin, also hit out at PiS (though without directly naming them). “Attacking the middle class, raising taxes, centralism instead of local governance, and disrespecting coalition partners are paving the way for the opposition to take power,” he tweeted last night.

Grzegorz Braun, the candidate of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party, finished in fourth place with 9.15% of the vote. Turnout was 53.84%.

Main image credit: Patryk Ogorzalek / Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.