Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) is predicted to lose its majority to the Civic Coalition lead by former European Council president Donald Tusk.

Seventy-four percent of Poles cast their ballots, the highest level in the country’s 34 years of democracy, and surpassing the 63% who voted in the historic 1989 election that toppled communism.

According to exit polls, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s PiS party has won more than 36% of votes, but is unlikely to find enough coalition allies to retain office.

The opposition Civic Coalition won 31%; the centrist Third Way coalition 14%; the Left party 8.6%; and the far-right Confederation about 6%.

The Ipsos exit poll shows that Poland’s three biggest opposition parties have likely won a combined 248 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm.

The poll suggests that Law and Justice obtained 200 seats. Its potential partner, the far-right Confederation got 12 seats, a showing the party acknowledged was a defeat.

Tusk, who governed as Polish Prime Minister from 2007 to 2014, has already claimed victory.

The final election results should be known by Tuesday.

”Never in my life have I been so happy about taking seemingly second place. Poland won. Democracy has won. We have removed them from power,ā€ Tusk said.

He hopes to end eight years of Law and Justice party rule under President Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

A political change in Poland could open the way for the release of billions of euros of Covid-19 pandemic recovery funds that have been withheld over what the EU viewed as democratic erosion.

Should the polls be correct, Tuskā€™s victory would move Poland closer to European allies and bolster support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia.