War hero's daughter wins seat in Senate

The District Electoral Commission in Białystok announced on Monday that Anders had garnered 30,661 votes (47.26 percent), followed by Mieczysław Bagiński of the Polish People's Party with 26,618 (41.03 percent), the latter candidate also backed by the Civic Platform and Nowoczesna parties.

Other candidates included independent Jerzy Ząbkiewicz, who managed 4177 votes (6.44 percent) and Szczepan Barszczewski of the KORWiN party with 1992 votes (3.07 percent).

Turnout was 17.11 percent.

The election was held as previous senator Bohdan Paszkowski – also of Law and Justice – was compelled to stand down after being appointed regional governor.

He had garnered 49.65 percent of the vote in the 26 October parliamentary elections. At that time, Anders failed to win a seat in another constituency.

Anna Maria Anders grew up in the UK as her father had been handed down a death sentence in absentia by the Soviet-backed communist regime that was installed in Poland following WWII.

The general had commanded the Polish formation within the British 8th Army, playing a key role in the liberation of Italy.

There were protests on Friday when Anna Maria Anders was accused of using an exhibition about her father's legacy as a platform to win votes. (nh)

Source: IAR/PAP