Law and Justice (PiS) has emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections thanks to support from the rural electorate, among other voters. In the struggle for young voters, the winner was Civic Platform (PO).

The PiS triumphed in poorer regions. The whole eastern region supported the PiS program, emphasizing the necessity for the new government to apply the principle of "social solidarity." The PiS garnered the most support in Podkarpackie, Małopolskie and Mazovia provinces-with 38, 37 and 31 percent, respectively.

The PO was the favorite in Pomerania, Silesia and Lower Silesia-39, 32 and 29 percent respectively. So, the liberal economic slogans of Donald Tusk's party, with a priority on business, won greater support in industrialized provinces, mainly the north and west of Poland. In the center of the country, the result was more even, but leaned toward the PiS.

Warsaw, where the PO won two seats more than the PiS, was the exception. The district has a special, prestigious significance for the party of Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczyński. The PO strategy involved reshuffling the party structures in the capital and positioning at their head the strong woman of Polish politics, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. The strategy proved effective.

According to State Election Commission (PKW) data, the vote of the rural electorate largely contributed to the PiS victory. Contrary to the traditional structure of support, rural residents voted overwhelmingly for the party of the Kaczyński brothers-more than 25 percent and for Samoobrona-about 18 percent. By the same token, the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL)-a typical peasants' class party boasting a century-old tradition-has been marginalized.

Andrzej Lepper's Samoobrona, launched as a peasants' party to address the "dissatisfied" electorate, has transformed into a group that also struggles for urban voters, mainly residents of small towns. However, the turnout in the countryside was lower than that of cities; only about 36 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.

It is little surprise that the PO obtained the most votes among entrepreneurs-nearly 39 percent of the professional group. However, according to an election poll conducted by the consortium TNS OBOP and PBS, for a group billed as the "most socialist-oriented," the PiS also received considerable support among the business community-over 27 percent of the vote. The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) was supported by 8 percent of private entrepreneurs, the League of Polish Families (LPR)-5 percent, the PSL-4 percent, Polish Social Democracy (SDPL)-3 percent, and the Democratic Party (PD)-demokraci.pl-3 percent.

Election slogans and spots run by the PO were most effective among young people. Among those participating in their first election, the party headed by Tusk and Jan Rokita was the clear winner with 31 percent, according to the TNS OBOP and PBS poll. But the PiS was a close runner-up with 28 percent. Farther down the line were Samoobrona with 8.5 percent, LPR-7 percent, SLD-7 percent, PSL-5 percent, SDPL-4 percent, PD-demokraci.pl-4 percent, the Polish Labor Party (PPP)-1 percent and the Patriotic Movement (RP)-0.5 percent.