Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk acknowledged the setback dealt by the nationalist opposition party's win in local elections held at the weekend, which were seen as the first test of his centre-left government since taking office late last year.
Tusk, in a post on social media platform X, said he was heartened by victories scored by his Civic Coalition in individual races, like the contest for mayor in the cities of Warsaw and Gdansk, as well as some regional assemblies.
He attributed the losses to the poor mobilization of young voters and the strong turnout of the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) in rural and eastern areas.
"The conclusion for us? Don't moan, get to work!" Tusk wrote.
According to forecasts, PiS narrowly emerged from Sunday's vote as the strongest force. In the election of the 16 regional administrations, 33.7% of the votes went to PiS, according to exit polls conducted by the Ipsos opinion research institute.
Tusk's Civic Coalition came in second place with 31.9%, Ipsos said.
The party achieved a big success in the capital Warsaw: The incumbent mayor Rafał Trzaskowski won re-election with 59.9% of the vote in the first round.
The 52-year-old Trzaskowski ran for president in 2020, but was edged out by incumbent Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally.
Trzaskowski's easy re-election for mayor fuelled talk that he may still have a shot at the presidency.
The official final results are not expected to be announced until Wednesday.
The 29 million eligible voters decided on the mayors of all municipalities and cities. They also elected the members of all 16 regional assemblies, 380 district councillors and 2,477 local councillors. A run-off election for mayors is scheduled for April 21 if none of the candidates received more than 50% in the first round.
