Poland to elect a new president

Poland voting in an early presidential election, two months after President Lech Kaczynski died in a plane crash in Russia.Contenders to coveted post are acting president Bronislaw Komorowski of the centrist ruling Civic Platform party, who has been leading in opinion polls, and former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the identical twin brother of the deceased president.Eight other candidates are also contesting the election. If no candidate secures at least 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the two top finishers will be held July 4.The winner will be elected to serve a five-year term as head of state of the European Union and NATO member country.President Kaczynski and 95 other people, including his wife and many members of Poland's political and military elite, were killed when their plane crashed April 10 while trying to land in heavy fog in Smolensk, in western Russia. It is unlikely that any of the candidates will receive the necessary 50% or more of the vote, which means there will be a runoff on the fourth of July, which Komorowski is favored to win.Early elections were scheduled after the April 10 disaster near Smolensk, in which Jaroslaw Kaczynski's twin brother Lech died. The elections are also taking place against the backdrop of the flooding that has still not subsided in the Republic of Poland. These circumstances have meant that the country's presidential elections have attracted considerably more attention than normal from Russia, the EU and the United States. In Poland, the president has a considerable amount of executive authority, but not as much as in, say, France or the United States. After all, Poland is a parliamentary republic, not a presidential one.Polish constitution, the president, along with parliament, is responsible for foreign policy and defense, and can exert considerable influence in these areas if he so desires. He even has the power to veto any laws. Overriding a veto requires a three-fifths parliamentary majority, which is difficult for any parliament to achieve. Under Kaczynski the Younger - the late president was 45 minutes younger than his twin brother - many of Tusk's initiatives were scuttled in this way. Tusk was often unable to force very necessary reforms for Poland past Kaczynski, and had already resigned himself to the fact that he would have to wait until the election of a new president. Only then could there be a major restructuring of health care, the economy, finances and the country's regulatory framework.Poland will do after this reconfiguration of power will be to finally sign a new agreement with Moscow on Russian natural gas supplies. In fact, everything for this agreement has already been decided. According to the draft, the Russian company Gazprom will supply slightly more than ten billion cubic meters of gas per year (Poland's total consumption is 14 billion cubic meters) until 2037. Signing the agreement has been delayed due to criticism from the opposition and the same old arguments in the executive branch. The Polish Ministry of Economy has already announced that if the agreement is not officially signed and ratified in the next few months, there could be gas shortages in the country by October, the economic damages of which would be worse than the floods in May and June of this year. Flood damages have reached more than $2 billion, according to preliminary estimates. Gazprom currently owns a 48% stake in the Polish company Europolgaz, which operates the Polish segment of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline. Gazprom has negotiated an agreement to increase its stake, which the opposition does not want. Since the new president would be from the same party as the prime minister, there would be no need to fear the presidential veto. According to the latest public opinion polls, Bronislaw Komorowski could get as much as 46% of the vote on June 20, while Jaroslaw Kaczynski could receive between 31% and 36%.Media agencies