Poland sets snap election for June

Poland will hold a presidential election on 20 June following the death of Lech Kaczynski with polls suggesting that acting president Bronislaw Komorowski will win comfortably.

As Parliament speaker, Mr Komorowski automatically took the helm after President Kaczynski's death in a plane crash on 10 April, which killed 95 other people. Mr Komorowski is also the candidate of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ruling centre-right Civic Platform (PO) party.

Several opinion polls this week have suggested that the gently spoken Mr Komorowski, 57, will easily beat his rivals for the mainly ceremonial post.

Mr Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw, 60, a former prime minister who heads the main opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), is expected to decide by Saturday whether to run. Analysts believe he would struggle to translate into votes the sympathy for his family following the crash.