In 2005, Kaczyński allowed a counter-demonstration, the "Parade of Normality", organized by the All-Polish Youth, a Catholic nationalist organization opposed to "liberalism, tolerance, and relativism."
On 19 March 2005, he formally declared his intention to run for president in the October 2005 election.
Elected President of the Republic of Poland (he defeated the runner-up Donald Tusk by polling 8,257,468 votes, constituting 54.04 percent of the vote), Kaczyński assumed office on 23 December 2005, taking an oath before the National Assembly.
From 2005 to 2007, in accordance article 133 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Kaczyński pardoned 77 people and declined to pardon 550.