Another victory for the good guys over far right authoritarianism supported by the likes of Putin and Trump.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67123584

With more than 99% of votes counted, PiS led with 35.64%, while Donald Tusk's liberal Civic Coalition party had 30.48%.

But Mr Tusk is now most likely to be able to form a broad coalition.

That would end eight years of rule under PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The National Electoral Commission will give the final result on Tuesday. Although the winning party is expected to be offered the chance to form a government, Mr Kaczynski will fall well short of the 231 seats he needs to form a majority parliament, the Sejm.

According to a final exit poll published on Monday, a partnership with the far-right Confederation would leave the socially conservative PiS 20 seats below the required number.

"This is the end of the bad times, this is the end of the PiS government," Donald Tusk declared on Sunday night.

The opposition had already warned Poles it was their "last chance" to save democracy. The National Election Commission put the turnout at 74% , the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.

"Poland won, democracy has won," Mr Tusk, 66, told a large crowd of jubilant supporters in Warsaw.

His Civic Coalition will look to form a government with the centre-right Third Way, which saw a surge in support with around 14.4% of the vote, and the New Left on around 8.5%. Between them, they would easily reach a majority, with the final exit poll giving them 249 seats in the 460-seat parliament.

Poland's stock market surged by more than 6% and its currency, the Zloty, also rose on the expectation of a new government.

Speaking after the exit poll on Sunday night, Mr Kaczynski warned voters he did not know if the party's "success will be able to be turned into another term in power".