due to the infighting in the government led by his Solidarity party since they had won the 1997 parliamentary election. Meanwhile, Lech Wałęsa trailed badly in the polls with only about 2% support, which Wałęsa saw as being due to voters seeing him as being responsible for the pain involved in the transition from communism. In the election 3 candidates ran on platforms against the European Union. During the campaign one of them, Andrzej Lepper, was arrested for illegally blocking a customs post, however he claimed that this was an attempt to sabotage his campaign. As the election neared Kwaśniewski dropped in the polls and it became uncertain whether he would win the 50% required to avoid a second round. This followed a television advertisement from Solidarity candidate Krzaklewski in which Kwaśniewski was accused of having mocked Pope John Paul II. The video showed Kwaśniewski apparently urging his security advisor to kiss the ground is a parody of the Pope, although Kwaśniewski claimed this was inaccurate. At least one poll showed Kwaśniewski's support having dropped by 10% in one week following this, however it was the other main candidate, Andrzej Olechowski, who benefited as Krzaklewski was seen as being tarnished for having run a negative campaign. Candidates There was no second round since Aleksander Kwaśniewski got over 50% in the first round. First Round Businessman Bogdan Pawłowski (Independent), 55 Generał broni Tadeusz Wilecki (National Party), 55 Withdrawn Results Incumbent President Kwaśniewski won the election in the first round receiving almost 54% of the vote. Independent Andrzej Olechowski came second beating Solidarity candidate Krzaklewski into third place. Meanwhile, former President Lech Wałęsa only won 1% of the vote and following the election stood down as leader of his small Christian Democratic party. Notes References Presidential elections in Poland Poland History of Poland (1989–present) 2000 elections in Poland October 2000 events in Europe es:Elecciones presidenciales de Polonia de 2010