WARSAW (Reuters) - Support for Poland's governing Civic Platform (PO) has fallen by almost half in the space of two months and it has been overtaken by a still-unnamed party led by a former rock musician, according to an opinion poll published on Friday.
PO has governed for the past eight years but suffered a major blow at the weekend when Andrzej Duda of the socially conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) defeated incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski in a presidential election, positioning PiS as strong favourite for a parliamentary election this autumn.
A survey by pollsters Estymator institute, published by Newsweek Polska, gave PiS 36 percent support, with centre-right Civic Platform on 20 percent, compared with 38 percent in mid-March.
Law and Justice's promises of more welfare and state intervention on behalf of poorer Poles struggling with some of the lowest wages in Europe contrast with PO's economically liberal message to the emerging urban middle class.
The poll said PO had also slipped behind a newly created anti-establishment group led by former rock star Pawel Kukiz, which drew 25 percent support.
Kukiz, who won more than 20 percent in the first round of the presidential election, is supported by voters disenchanted with the government and the fact that, despite fast economic growth, salaries still lag in comparison to Western countries.
Apart from demanding reform of the voting system, Kukiz has yet to announce any policies.