Poll - opposition extends lead to nine percent

PM Tusk's Civic Platform slips further behind Law and Justice with a geberal election scheduled for 2015: photo - PAP/Radek Pietruszka

The Millward Brown pollsters found that 26 percent of respondents said they would vote for the centre-right Civic Platform, down six points from last month, while PiS, led by conservative former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is up four points to 35 percent.

An economic slowdown this year, in a country which escaped the worst of the European finance crisis since 2008, has affected the popularity of Civic Platform, which have been in power with junior coalition partner, the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) since 2007.

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) is on 10 percent support, Palikot Movement six percent and PSL five percent, according to the survey released on Thursday.

The latest poll comes before the second round in the local mayor election in Elblag in northern Poland on Sunday, where Law and Justice and Civic Platform candidates go head-to-head after PiS came top in the first round two weeks ago.

The snap local election – seen as a key test of support for the centre-right coalition – had to be contested after voters recalled the Civic Platform mayor in April.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk will be visiting the city on Friday in support of his candidate Elżbieta Gelert while Law and Justice top brass are trying to get their vote to turn out in support of Jerzy Wilk. (pg)