Poland's presidential race between business-friendly Bronislaw Komorowski and conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynski is too close to call ahead of the final round of voting this Sunday, surveys showed on Friday, according to Reuters. Komorowski, candidate of the ruling Civic Platform who has so far been seen as frontrunner in the election, is now expected to face a tight run-off against Kaczynski, leader of the main opposition conservative Law and Justice. The leading Gazeta Wyborcza daily on Friday quoted some analysts as saying the two rivals may win half the vote each in the second, decisive round of voting, while others predicted Komorowski would win by between three and six percent. On Thursday evening the Rzeczpospolita daily published a survey showing Kaczynski and Komorowski each had the definite backing of 45 percent of Poles. The paper said the GfK pollster, which conducted the telephone poll among 1,000 people on July 1, believed more of the 10 percent of undecided were likely to back Kaczynski, giving him a lead of 2 percentage points over Komorowski. Only the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily, which on Friday released a Homo Homini telephone survey conducted among 1,203 Poles, gave Komorowski a lead of 12 percent over Kaczynski. Opinion polls in Poland are often criticised for misleading forecasts and they have tended to underestimate support for Kaczynski. Komorowski secured a lead of just 5 percent, less than forecast, over Kaczynski in the first round in June. Both candidates will be touring the country on Friday, the last day of campaigning. In Poland, the government holds most power, but the president can propose and veto laws, appoint key state officials and have a say in foreign and security issues. Investors would prefer a Komorowski win, expecting him to work smoothly with the market-oriented government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk in curbing Poland's budget deficit and high public debt levels. Komorowski also urges further improvement of Warsaw's relations with its international partners. Kaczynski opposes cutting public spending, privatisation and any speedy adoption of the euro. He says Tusk's cabinet is not promoting Poland's national interests internationally and seeks a tougher stance in relations with Russia, among others.
