New Polish President urges end to infighting

Poland's president-elect Bronislaw Komorowski called for an end to bitter infighting yesterday as he was declared formal winner of an election against conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

"Let this presidency be one of national unity, one which will help to bridge the divide of Poland's difficult and painful past for the good of the Poland of the future," Mr Komorowski said in a ceremony in Warsaw.

Minutes earlier, national electoral commission chief Stefan Jaworski formally declared Mr Komorowski the victor in Sunday's ballot to become Poland's fourth President since the fall of the communist regime in 1989.

Mr Komorowski took 53.01 per cent of the vote to Mr Kaczynski's 46.99 per cent, official results said on Monday. Mr Kaczynski had already conceded defeat on Sunday after exit polls were released.

The election was called several months earlier than scheduled after the incumbent, Lech Kaczynski - Mr Jaroslaw's identical twin - was killed in a plane crash in Russia on April 10.

He had been due to seek a second five-year term in the autumn but forecast to lose to Mr Komorowski, running for Poland's governing liberals.

Under the Constitution, Speaker of Parliament Komorowski became acting head of state after the crash, while opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski launched a bid for his late brother's post.

The contest marked the latest chapter in a bitter battle between the conservatives and liberals, who share roots in the 1980s communist-era opposition but fell out after the regime collapsed and are now arch-rivals.

Lech Kaczynski came from behind in the opinion polls to beat liberal Donald Tusk - now Prime Minister - in the 2005 presidential race. Jaroslaw Kaczynski was his twin's Prime Minister in 2006-2007, but lost a general election to Mr Tusk and Mr Komorowski's liberals that year.

Thereafter, the conservatives counted on the President to use his veto powers to block the liberals' legislation, which he did 18 times.

Mr Komorowski's victory means the liberals now control the government and the executive. At the ceremony Mr Tusk said this marked a "new opening" for his administration.

In line with standard practice, Mr Komorowski announced yesterday that he was quitting the liberal Civic Platform party.