Tusk will not run for president

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced he will not run for the office of president in October. This means his party, the Civic Platform, cannot win the elections, writes the daily Lidové Noviny: "If Tusk had a twin brother like [President] Lech Kaczyński's twin and former prime minister Jarosław, he would run for the office at the drop of a hat. And in all probability he would have won triumphantly. But Tusk has no twin. In addition he's only half-way through his term as prime minister and doesn't want to leave his job half-done. ... Nevertheless his unexpected decision complicates things considerably. For one thing it substantially improves Kaczyński's chances of winning another mandate. ... One big problem will certainly be the search for another Civic Platform candidate. A defeat of the Civic Platform, which dominates opinion polls with 40 percent of voter support, would deal a hard blow to the party's confidence. But who apart from Tusk could win the election for the Civic Platform? No one."

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