Polish presidential election

Fast forward to today and this weekend's congress of Civic Coalition is supposed to be accompanied by the news Tusk will take over leadership of the fledgling coalition that contains the party he once led to two consecutive electoral victories, serving as prime minister from 2007 to 2014.

Donald Tusk's term as president of the European Council will end on 30 November, which is perfect timing for the Polish opposition.

After the parliamentary election in late October, Poland will hold its presidential election in April 2020, and opposition voters already see Tusk as the only viable candidate.

Conservative opposition challenger Andrzej Duda on May 24 won a surprise victory in Poland's presidential run-off, trumping incumbent centrist Bronislaw Komorowski with promises of change and generous social spending.

Polish voters are casting ballots for a head of state on Sunday, with incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski pointed as a potential winner by opinion polls.

There are a total of 11 candidates. Exit polls will be available after 22:00 local time, or 21:00 GMT, according to Radio Poland. Polls will close an hour earlier.

As of 12:00 local time, turnout has been nearly 15 percent.

Poland will hold presidential elections on May 10, Parliament speaker Radoslaw Sikorski announced on Wednesday.

Incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski is leading opinion polls and is a strong favourite to win a second five-year term.

Komorowski, who is close to the Civic Platform (PO) governing party, has a 52% backing, according to a TNS Polska poll published last week. 

The former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is to be inaugurated to the position of President of the European Council at an official handover ceremony today.

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