After Early Stumble, Polish Twins on Track for a Win

Kaczynskis take lead 3 weeks before voting
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 27, 2007 10:58 AM CDT
After Early Stumble, Polish Twins on Track for a Win
Polish President Lech Kaczynski, left, shakes hands with his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, after naming him prime minister, in this July 10, 2006 file photo in Warsaw, Poland. Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is gambling big. He and his Law and Justice party could remain in office for two...   (Associated Press)

Maclean's travels to Warsaw, where the ruling Kaczynski brothers are seeing a revival in fortunes ahead of Poland's Oct. 21 parliamentary elections. The twin brothers who have ruled Poland since 2005, pushing a hard-right agenda and enraging Europe along the way, seemed certain to lose power only weeks ago. But a disorganized opposition had missed opportunities, and a new poll puts the twins five points ahead.

Last month the Polish parliament suffered a meltdown over corruption charges and the Kaczysnkis were forced into early elections. Yet the opposition Civic Platform, supported by city-dwellers and elite media, has been unable to get its message across to voters. "Life under the Kaczynskis has often been close to a circus," Maclean's writes, but the circus might get an encore. (More Poland stories.)

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