Poland votes in local elections test for Tusk
Voters across Poland are casting ballots in local elections on Sunday four months after the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk took power, ending eight years of conservative nationalist rule in the country, DW reports.
Nearly 190,000 candidates are vying for positions as mayors and councillors across the nation of 38 million people.
Recent voter surveys have shown a close race is likely between Tusk's Civic Coalition and Law and Justice (PiS), the conservative party that governed the country from 2015.
The results will be closely watched in Brussels ahead of European Parliament elections in June.
The vote is being seen as a first electoral test for Tusk's coalition government.
Tusk has pledged to reverse the previous government's changes to the judicial system and public media, which were seen by the European Union as violating its democratic standards.
This led to frequently strained relations between Warsaw and Brussels.
However, change in several areas has been slow in coming, as new legislation will be needed, for example, to give the judicial system back its independence.
The strict abortion laws introduced by the PiS are also supported by some conservatives in Tusk's own coalition, hampering reforms.
Nonetheless, the reforms enacted by Tusk have already led to the unblocking of billions in EU funds that were frozen over the bloc's concern about the state of the rule of law under the PiS.
