Poland's centrists to form new cabinet after victory
Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk on Monday began crafting a new cabinet after his party's landmark victory in Sunday's general election - the first win for an incumbent since the fall of the country's communist regime in 1989.
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Tusk pushed a message that he could be trusted with safe and solid handling of the economy, reminding voters that Poland has so far avoided recession.
Markets approved the result, with the polish zloty climbing against both the euro and the dollar.
Tusk's Civic Platform (or POĀ party) won some 39 per cent of the vote, with junior coalition partners Polish People's Party (PSL) scoring just over eight per cent.
Their combined 234Ā seats ensure a majority.
In another historical first, a transsexual was elected to the Polish parliament for the first time ever.
Anna Grodzka won her seat in the deeply catholic southern city of Krakow, once home to Pope John Paul II.
She is a member of the Palikot Movement, a new anti-clerical party, which stormed to third place in the vote.
"Today Poland is changing.Ā I'm the proof," said Grodzka, who intends to propose legislation facilitating gender changes in Poland.
Palikot also campaigned for changes in Poland's strict abortion law, free access to contraception, and gay marriage, all issues shunned by Poland's traditional parties.
Analysts say the party appeals to a growing number of young voters seeking a more clearly-defined separation of church and state.
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