Polish people begin voting for new parliamentary elections

On the morning of October 15 (local time), Polish people began voting in parliamentary elections in which the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS) hopes to win a third term in power.

Polish voters will elect 460 members of the House of Representatives and 100 members of the Senate.

Opinion polls show that PiS will lead but will have difficulty winning a majority in the new parliament.

PiS could achieve nearly 35% of the vote, higher than the Civic Coalition (KO), but the remaining 10% of the vote could go to small parties in the new parliament.

With war raging in neighboring Ukraine and a worsening migrant crisis, the European Union (EU) and the United States are closely watching Poland's parliamentary elections, although both PiS and the main opposition support the role of Warsaw - a key member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - in providing military and logistical support to Kiev.

Last year, Poland was one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine. But pressure to focus more on domestic issues is pushing support for Ukraine to the center of the October 15 election.

Voting begins at 7:00 a.m. local time (12:00 p.m. on October 15, Hanoi time) and ends at 9:00 p.m. the same day (2:00 a.m. on October 16, Hanoi time).

Political analysts predict that Poland could face a period of instability if PiS fails to secure a majority in the country's new parliament.