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New Prez for Poles

In a surprising ending, Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski has been elected the new president of Poland, winning by over 9 percentage points over his rival, Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk. After confirmation of his win, Kaczynski quickly called on Sunday for a quick completion of government talks between his conservative party and its pro-business ally.

Until Sunday, Tusk had led in preliminary polls by the same amount of points, with the outcome of the election coming as a shock to most Poles who predicted a win for Tusk. "I want to call ... for us to quickly conclude work on the government. I will approach Donald Tusk, who fought superbly in this campaign," Kaczynski told supporters.

The Polish zloty is likely to take a dip when trade resumes on Monday, with investors fearing that the Law and Justice`s calls for slower reforms and delays to Poland`s euro zone accession, now seen around 2010. "Kaczynski`s victory strengthens his party`s negotiating position in coalition talks, which is bad for the zloty," says Mateusz Szczurek, chief economist at ING Bank Slaski.