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Officials were quick to signal the party would continue its judicial reforms, which critics say amount to a politicization of the courts.
Poland's nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party secured a second term in power in Sunday's parliamentary election, partial results showed on Monday, but fell short of the landslide victory it needs to overhaul the constitution.
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After four years in power marked by judicial and media reforms that Poland's European partners criticized as subverting democratic norms, PiS campaigned on a promise to enshrine more Catholic and patriotic values in public life.
Partial results showed it winning 44.4 percent of votes, against the 37.6 percent it won in 2015, a result that gives PiS a narrow majority in parliament but not enough to reshape the constitution, its ultimate ambition.
Officials were quick to signal the party would continue its judicial reforms, which critics say amount to a politicization of the courts, but PiS says are needed to make the system more efficient and fair.
There was no immediate reaction from the European Union, which has taken Poland to court over its past judicial reforms.
Sunday's results highlighted increased political polarization in Poland under PiS rule, with the liberal opposition scoring sweeping victories in some large cities where voters fret over the future of democratic standards in Poland.
Echoing opposition victories in local elections in Hungary and Turkey, Poland's Civic Coalition, a centrist umbrella group, and a left-wing bloc won roughly 60 percent of votes in the capital Warsaw on Sunday against 28 percent for PiS.
In a further sign of deepening divisions, a group of far-right politicians and activists, the Confederation, won seats in parliament for the first time, securing 6.8 percent of the vote, just above the 5 percent threshold needed to enter the legislature.
Critics have accused PiS of fomenting homophobia during the election campaign, with PiS officials branding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights an "invasive foreign influence" that threatens Poland's national identity.
"We saved Poland. ... It is time to complete decommunization. It is time to stop the LGBT dictate!," Deputy Digitalisation Minister Andrzej Andruszkiewicz, who is seen as close to far-right politicians, wrote in a tweet.
Throughout the campaign, PiS told voters that business and cultural elites should be replaced with people who espouse patriotic values, to weed out what it says is a communist-era web of influence that prevents fair market competition.
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