Polish President Duda retains office in tight race

Poland's incumbent President Andrzej Duda has beaten challenger Rafal Trzaskowski by a narrow margin to be reelected as president, in a vote that could have a major bearing on the country's future political direction.

According to figures from the National Electoral Commission based on a count of votes from almost all the districts, social conservative Duda beat his more liberal rival, the mayor of the capital city Warsaw, with 51.2 percent of the vote, the smallest margin of victory since 1989.Final results could vary slightly, but Duda's lead appeared unassailable.

Turnout was at 68.2 percent, and with a very small number of polling stations having not yet returned their ballots on Monday morning, the result could not be declared absolute, but electoral officials said they were confident those figures would not affect the final outcome.