Polish ruling coalition postpones Sunday presidential vote

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's ruling party leader and a partner in the governing coalition announced an agreement late Wednesday to postpone Sunday's presidential election, saying a new date will be chosen later.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling Law and Justice party, and Jaroslaw Gowin, leader of a small party in the conservative coalition, announced in a joint statement that they had agreed to cancel Sunday’s vote and set a new date.

They called their decision “a solution that will guarantee Poles the opportunity to participate in democratic elections.”

The decision brought some clarity to a chaotic situation that kept Poles uncertain if they would be casting votes this weekend for a president.

The May 10 date had been set months ago, but the coronavirus pandemic and a government-ordered lockdown threw preparations for Sunday’s election into disarray. Bitter fighting between the conservative governing party and its political opponents kept them from agreeing on an alternative.

The ruling party had sought to stick to the election date by making it a postal vote, but proper legislation was still not approved. Many in Poland voiced concerns that such a vote organized on short notice might not be conducted property or meet democratic standards for fairness.

A disagreement between Kaczynski and Gowin had also created a stalemate that had threatened to cause a larger political crisis. Their joint statement suggested the crisis has been averted.

Under their plan, after Sunday the Supreme Court will declare the election void because it does not happen, and then Parliament Speaker Elzbieta Witek will announce “new presidential election to be held on the first possible date.”

They did not indicate when that might be.

Under a constitutionally dictated...