Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland's presidential election
Warsaw (AP): Conservative Karol Nawrocki won Poland's weekend presidential runoff election, according to the final vote count on Monday.
Nawrocki won 50.89% of votes in a very tight race against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%.
The close race had the country on edge since a first round two weeks earlier and through the night into Monday, revealing deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.
An early exit poll released on Sunday evening suggested Trzaskowski was headed to victory before updated polling began to reverse the picture hours later.
The outcome indicates that Poland can be expected to take a more nationalist path under its new leader, who was backed by US President Donald Trump.
The role of a president in Poland
Most day-to-day power in the Polish political system rests with a prime minister chosen by the parliament. However, the president's role is not merely ceremonial. The office holds the power to influence foreign policy and to veto legislation.
Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and final term ends on Aug 6.
A headache for Tusk
Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in late 2023 at the end of a coalition government that spans a broad ideological divide — so broad that it hasn't been able to fulfill certain of Tusk's electoral promises, such as loosening the restrictive abortion law.
But Duda's veto power has been another obstacle. It has prevented Tusk from fulfilling promises to reverse laws that politicized the court system in a way that the European Union declared to be undemocratic.
Now it appears Tusk will have no way to fulfil those promises, which he had made both to voters and to the EU.
A former boxer, historian and political novice
Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, was tapped by the Law and Justice party as part of its push for a fresh start.
The party governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it lost power to a centrist coalition led by Tusk. Some political observers predicted the party would never make a comeback, and Nawrocki was chosen as a new face who would not be burned by the scandals of the party's eight years of rule.
Nawrocki has most recently been the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, which embraces nationalist historical narratives. He led efforts to topple monuments to the Soviet Red Army in Poland, and Russia responded by putting him on a wanted list, according to Polish media reports.
Nawrocki's supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Those who oppose secular trends, including LGBTQ+ visibility, have embraced him, viewing him as a reflection of the traditional values they grew up with.
The Trump factor
Trump made it clear he wanted Nawrocki as Poland's president.
The conservative group CPAC held its first meeting in Poland last week to give Nawrocki a boost. Kristi Noem, the US Homeland Security Secretary and a prominent Trump ally, strongly praised Nawrocki and urged Poles to vote for him.
The US has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Nawrocki as president.
A common refrain from Nawrocki's supporters is that he will restore “normality,” as they believe Trump has done. US flags often appeared at Nawrocki's rallies, and his supporters believed that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration.
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High-rise near INS Shikra: HC raps Navy over ‘lapse’, 'intelligence failure'
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Friday pulled up the Navy for its “failure in intelligence” while questioning how a high-rise came up unnoticed in the vicinity of INS Shikra, the maritime force’s premier air station in south Mumbai.
A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri said it was of the prima facie opinion that there has been an intelligence lapse on the part of the Navy as it failed to notice a skyscraper being constructed in the vicinity of its establishment.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the Commanding Officer of INS Shikra seeking to halt the project, citing significant security risks to the sensitive military installation.
The bench also questioned the Navy’s selective opposition to only this particular building when there are several other residential high-rises in the vicinity, with some at a “stone throw distance” from INS Shikra.
The petitioner’s advocate R V Govilkar said the other buildings were constructed before 2011, when the Ministry of Defence issued a notification, making a No Objection Certificate mandatory for the construction of tall structures near defence establishments.
The court, however, noted that the present high-rise received its commencement certificate in March 2011, and construction began since then.
“You (Navy) are trying to hide grave lapse on your part… lapse in intelligence and security… there has been a failure of intelligence. The Navy has been sitting in its office and noticed this building only after almost 70 metres (19 storeys) had already been constructed till the year 2024,” HC said.
There has been a prima facie lapse of intelligence, the court said, adding, “We are surprised as to how the Navy has failed to see such a high-rise building being constructed all these years? How has the building gone unnoticed? This can only be attributed to the failure of intelligence on the part of the naval officials.”
The bench said it cannot permit its earlier order, temporarily halting construction activity at the building site, to continue as it was passed due to security concerns ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the city.
The court said since construction up to 53.07 metres (15 storeys) was permitted in the area, the developer of the building shall develop above the permissible height at their own risk.
It added that if the court finally concludes that an NOC (no objection certificate) was mandatory, then it would direct the demolition of the building above the permissible 53 metres.
The court also warned action against Mumbai civic body officials if it is found that the corporation has been complacent or has committed a blunder by granting the commencement certificate without an NOC from the Navy.
It posted the matter for final hearing on March 30.
After perusing photographs of the area near INS Shikra submitted by the developer, the HC noted that there are several other high-rises between the structure under construction and the establishment.
“In fact, from the under-construction building, the naval base is out of sight. This is our prima facie view. We are intrigued that there are other buildings very close to the establishment and a threat perception hovers around them too, but the Navy has not done anything about them,” the court said.
Those buildings are literally a stone’s throw from INS Shikra, Justice Ghuge said.
Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas, who represented the developer, argued that since the building received its commencement certificate in March 2011, months before the notification issued by the Ministry of Defence, it did not require the mandatory NOC from the defence.
