Poland's presidential election set for May 18

Presidential elections in Poland are scheduled for May 18. This was announced on January 8 by the speaker of the Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament) of the country, Szymon Cholownia.

"<...> The first round of the presidential election will be held on May 18. Two weeks later, on June 1, if necessary, a second round of elections will be held," Rzeczpospolita quoted him as saying.

Cholovnia also said that holding elections on the May weekend was ruled out.

As for the district election commissions, the speaker said that they should be formed by March 31, while presidential candidates can be nominated by April 4.

According to the newspaper, at the moment Magdalena Beyat, deputy speaker of the Senate (upper house of the Polish parliament), Marek Jakubiak, leader of the New Hope party Slawomir Mentzen, Polish historian and independent candidate Karol Nawrocki, Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw and candidate of the Civic Coalition, and Cholownia himself are planning to take part in the elections.

Last October, parliamentary elections were held in Poland, which were won by the Law and Justice party with 35.38% of the vote. At the same time, the opposition parties Civic Platform, Third Way and New Left, which entered the new parliament, signed a coalition agreement, formed a majority in the Sejm and approved the candidacy of their leader Donald Tusk as head of government.