On November 22, 2024, the Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska), the current ruling political party in Poland led by Donald Tusk, held its much-anticipated primaries to select a presidential candidate for the upcoming 2025 elections. All KO members took part in this internal vote, a test of the party’s democratic procedures and its ability to unite behind a formidable candidate to retake the presidential palace from the incumbent PiS-backed Andrzej Duda.

I present a brief analysis of the key factors that influenced the opposition’s victory in the parliamentary elections in October. The order of the points does not imply a hierarchy of importance. In these elections, there were no radical party like Razem, which would claim that it would not cooperate with other parties and would take votes from the main parties, while not entering the Parliament due to not crossing the 5 or 8 percent threshold.

A massive social mobilization has led to the government’s defeat, one that routinely violated the constitution and basic principles of decency. Thousands of voters engaged in monitoring the election process, with tens of thousands casting their votes away from their places of residence, thereby increasing the strength of their votes in terms of parliamentary mandates.