Poland's Prime Minister Retains Party Leadership

But his administration is losing support

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk easily won re-election as his party's leader on Friday, but his government has been losing popularity halfway through his second term in office.

Tusk won about 80 percent of the votes in the governing center-liberal Civic Platform's leadership election, while challenger Jaroslaw Gowin got 20 percent, according to results released Friday. But only 51 percent of the party members voted, undermining the depth of Tusk's support. His Civic Platform party, the main one in his coalition government, is rapidly losing support, and will need to boost its image for the 2015 parliamentary election.

Observers also noted that Gowin's result was higher than expected.

Poland's longest-serving prime minister since the days of communism, Tusk took office in 2007, and for years he faced no serious challenge, while the economy continued to grow, despite the global crisis.