A former Communist, Aleksander Kwasniewski, defeated faded Solidarity hero Lech Walesa by a slim margin in a presidential runoff Sunday, according to projections from the state polling agency.
Kwasniewski won 51.4 percent of vote compared to 48.6 percent for the incumbent, according to unofficial ballot results compiled by state television's OBOP agency from 1,150 of 22,472 precincts. The projections had a 1 percent error margin, and the race was so close neither candidate acknowledged victory of defeat.The election was a symbolic duel between Poland's two major postwar forces. Walesa keyed his campaign to fears of a Communist resurgence while Kwasniewski insisted he could be trusted to transcend his party's totalitarian past.
Kwasniewski, 41, had already left his headquarters when the projections were announced, triggering a joyful frenzy among his youthful campaign workers. They danced, screamed and sang "May He Live 100 Years."
The 52-year-old Walesa never appeared at his campaign headquarters, where supporters fell silent on hearing the news and slowly began filing out.
The former Solidarity leader had steadily lost popular support during his five-year term. He looked dour as he thanked supporters in a brief appearance just after polls closed and retired with his family.
The reaction to the OBOP polling agency's projection was based on its choice of representative precincts throughout the nation, and its accuracy in previous elections. In the Nov. 5 first round of the presidential contest, final ballot results for the top two candidates were only one-half percentage off of the OBOP projection.
Kwasniewski expressed satisfaction with the 67.2 percent voter turnout, post-Communist Poland's highest. He credited the younger generation that was in grade school during Solidarity's struggle.
"Those young people without historical sentiments or prejudices are our greatest chance, our greatest hope," Kwasniewski told chanting supporters.
No matter who wins, he said, the country has many problems to solve and must overcome historical divisions.