Poles woke up today to the prospect of a new government after the ruling nationalist party failed to secure a majority of seats in parliament, paving the way for opposition parties to form a government.

An Ipsos exit poll published late on Sunday showed the Law and Justice (PiS) party winning the election with 36.8% of the vote, the highest percentage, which means 200 seats out of a total of 460.

But the opposition parties, under Donald Tusk’s Citizens’ Coalition (KO), are predicted to win 248 seats, with KO’s share of 31.6%.

If these figures are confirmed by the official results, yesterday’s election will be a turning point for Warsaw, which has repeatedly clashed with the EU over the rule of law, press freedom, immigration and the rights of the LGBTI community since in 2015 when PiS came to power.

The exit poll was delayed in being announced, with some commentators suggesting this was due to the record turnout in the parliamentary elections.

Television networks broadcast images of several hundred people, mostly young people, waiting in a long line to vote at a polling station in the western city of Wroclaw. Residents offered those waiting hot tea and blankets as well as food, as some said they waited in line for six hours. The polling station closed shortly before 3 am (04:00 Greek time), six hours after the official closing time of the polls.

The partial, official results are expected to be announced today. As of 5:30 this morning (local time, 6:30 Greece) only 3.6% of the votes had been counted.

The 66-year-old Tusk, a former president of the European Council, clearly pleased by the exit poll, has pledged to rewarm Poland’s relations with Brussels and cancel some PiS policies as well as hold party leaders accountable.

“Democracy has won (…) This is the end of the PiS government,” he said, addressing supporters of his party.

However, if the exit poll is confirmed, Tusk and his centre-right allies, the Third Way and the New Left, may have to wait weeks or even months before being given the mandate to form a government.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has said he will first order the party with the most votes to form a government.

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczyski, 74, told officials gathered at the party’s headquarters in Warsaw that it was unclear whether the election results would translate into another term for the party in government.

“We must hope that, regardless of whether we are in power or in opposition, our plan will continue (…) We will not let Poland lose (…) the right to decide its own destiny.”