Stark choice for Polish voters

Saturday, October 22, 2005; Posted: 7:19 a.m. EDT (11:19 GMT)

A Polish family passes billboards for Kaczynski, left, and Tusk, right.

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Polish voters in Sunday's election will choose between presidential candidates with sharply different personalities and differing views on how far to go in embracing market reforms.

Mild-mannered lawmaker Donald Tusk, who appeals to many younger voters with calls for lower taxes and more market economics, is fending off a late charge from tough-talking Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski, who wants to keep a strong safety net.

Kaczynski, a social conservative, strongly promotes Roman Catholic values such as opposition to gay rights and abortion. He has gained in polls with his promises to fight crime, purge former communists and stand up to Germany and Russia.

Those stands have won him support from people left out by Poland's post-communist economic growth, and from older Poles who remember the country's World War II suffering inflicted by the Nazis and the Soviet Union.

"I think he is a great patriot," said Hanna Edelman, an 89-year-old who fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi occupation. "He's really done a lot for people like me -- he's showed us his appreciation."

In a first round of voting Oct. 9, Tusk, the leader of the Civic Platform party, had a slight edge over Kaczynski, winning 36 percent to his rival's 33 percent. Kaczynski is the candidate of the Law and Justice Party -- run by his twin brother, Jaroslaw.

Sunday's runoff was triggered when neither man won the majority needed for outright victory in a field of 12 candidates.

In the closing remarks of his campaign on Friday, Kaczynski said he would work closely with the government led by the Law and Justice to combat unemployment, corruption and street crime. "Poles have the right to feel secure," he said.

Tusk ended his campaign at Warsaw's Royal Castle, stressing his presidency would be one of uniting people and "building a common home" as opposed to raising "walls."

"On Sunday we will vote for the dreams of Poles who want to live in a friendly and secure Poland, who believe that good can win in politics," he said.

The race is close. A poll published Friday showed that 52 percent of voters plan to vote for Tusk, and 48 percent for Kaczynski. The survey, conducted on Wednesday by PBS for the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A poll by the PGB institute showed Kaczynski with 50.2 percent and Tusk with 49.8 percent. PGB questioned 1,112 adults Wednesday and Thursday, and put the margin of error at plus or minus 2.8 points. It was the first poll to give Kaczynski -- a former justice minister -- the lead.