A Liberal Takes the Lead in the Critical Vote for Poland’s President

Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw, appeared on Sunday to have eked out a narrow win in the first round of Poland’s presidential election, a vote seen as pivotal as the government seeks to unwind hard-right policies put in place by a previous administration.

Mr. Trzaskowski, a member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform, won 30.8 percent of the votes cast, according to exit polls released by Polish state and private television stations.

But competing against 12 rival candidates, he fell far short of a majority, finishing just ahead of Karol Nowrocki, a candidate backed by the hard-right Law and Justice party, who took 29.1 percent. The two men are set to compete in a runoff on June 1.