Previous Columns
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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Friday 19th February, 2010
"once at the top of the greasy ladder they seemed to play a fairly crude political game."
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In some ways Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, either as twins or as individuals, induce feelings of frustration and elation at pretty much the same time.
I have to say, though, that the feelings of elation are generally confined to my professional world. When we had Lech and Jaroslaw as president and prime minister it was journalistic manor from heaven.
Editors loved it; identical twins running a country were always going to make news. And make news it did, but generally for all the wrong reasons, and this is where the frustration came in. Although undoubtedly shrewd—neither would never have got so far without a canny political game—once at the top of the greasy ladder they seemed to play a fairly crude political game.
Jaroslaw becoming prime minister in July 06 just months after he had convinced nobody by saying he didn’t want the job is one case in point. His wild drive to root out old communist informants apparently still lurking in the woodwork of Polish society that drew comparisons to McCarthyism is another.
Now in opposition, Jaroslaw can still play the same games. He has hinted that come this autumn’s presidential elections people should not vote for Radek Sikorski—presumed by many to be the man Civic Platform will put forward as its candidate—owing to some dark secret in Sikorski’s past.
Jaroslaw refused to elaborate what this was, explaining it was a state secret.
Spreading rumour without evidence is not only a low thing to do it also just plain wrong in a democracy. It is also a crude tactic that will, hopefully, backfire as people see it for what it is.
By the way, if you don’t vote for Radek Sikorski, who do you vote for? That’s right, Lech Kaczynski.
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