TOUGH TIMES FOR THE LEAGUE OF POLISH FAMILIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 002415

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2021
TAGS: PREL PGOV PL
SUBJECT: TOUGH TIMES FOR THE LEAGUE OF POLISH FAMILIES

REF: WARSAW 2389

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Classified By: Political Counselor Mary T. Curtin for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Only six months after joining the ruling
Polish government coalition, the ultra-Catholic League of
Polish Families (LPR) was the big loser in last weekend's
regional elections, and faces an uncertain future. Party
leader Roman Giertych has been a lightning rod for criticism,
and his efforts to infuse LPR with a new generation of
leaders from the party's youth arm, All Poland Youth (MW),
have flopped. Many of the party's core constituents, deeply
Catholic, elderly Poles who live in rural "Polska B," have
turned to the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party. More
than one-third of LPR's Parliamentary caucus come from the
All Poland Youth, some of whose members' track record of
virulently anti-Semitic and homophobic comments have colored
negatively the view of many Poles towards LPR and Giertych,
personally. End Summary.


2. (C) When Jaroslaw Kaczynski brokered the coalition deal
that brought LPR and nationalist Samoobrona (SO) into
national government, many Poles expressed distinct
displeasure at the elevation of LPR's Roman Giertych to
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education. Giertych
consistently polls as the least popular and least trusted
politician in Poland. His tenure as Minister of Education
has been controversial, including relaxing standards for
passing the Polish baccalaureate, backsliding on
Holocaust-education funding, and promotion of "patriotic
education" closely tailored to LPR's vision of Polish
nationalism imbued with Catholic values. Even close
Kaczynski allies, including Minister of Interior Ludwig Dorn,
have expressed concern over Giertych. Small scale protests
against Giertych have become commonplace among school age
children, especially teenagers, whose educational course
Giertych is charged with charting.

All in the Family
--------------


3. (C) Giertych's association with nationalist and Catholic
politics is a family affair. His grandfather Jedrzej formed
All Poland Youth in 1922, closely aligning the organization
with Polish nationalist Roman Dmowski. All Poland Youth
became the largest student organization in the interwar
period, and actively promoted anti-Semitic policies,
including Jewish boycotts and restricting Jews' access to
higher education. After World War II, Jedrzej lived in exile
in London, where he was expelled from the emigrants'
political party for his anti-Semitic views. Giertych's
father, Maciej, a European Parliamentarian, is an outspoken
advocate of extremely conservative Catholic values and critic
of teaching evolution in schools. Maciej caused a stir in
July 2006 when he praised Spain's former fascist leaders,
lamenting that Europe lacked such statesmen today. He is
also widely viewed as having been supportive of the
anti-Semitic campaign following the 1968 University strikes,
warning of Jewish and Communist complicity.


4. (C) Giertych himself has been studiously silent on the
issue of anti-Semitism. And while not visiting the sins of
the father and grandfather on the son and grandson,
Giertych's efforts to reestablish a student youth movement
bearing the same name as his grandfather's anti-Semitic
predecessor sent an unmistakable message to history-conscious
Poles. Moreover, Giertych makes little effort to walk back
outrageous statements made by members of the All Poland
Youth. His protege, Piotr Farfal continues in his position
as deputy chairman of the public television (TVP) despite
revelations that he worked for a neo-Nazi publication for
three years. In one article for the racist publication
"Front," Farfal wrote an article entitled "Why Be a
Skinhead," that stated "harsh repression against Jews is
necessary if our nation wishes to develop independently and
healthily. It is time we ride ourselves totally of the
Jews...Poles bribed by Jewish money and selling to the Jews
deserve not only our contempt but also severe punishment.
Our cause is holy. Jews out of Poland!"


5. (U) Giertych similarly has made little effort to restrain
another colleague, Wojciech Wierzejski, former head of MW and
one of ten All Poland Youth elected to the Polish Parliament
in 2005 (over one-third of LPR's current parliamentary caucus
of 29). In connection with the 2006 annual gay rights parade
in Warsaw, Wierzejski said that "if deviants start to
demonstrate, they should be beaten with batons. Once they
feel the pain, they won't come again because gays are by
definition cowards." But Wierzejski's homophobic notoriety
has not translated into electoral success. He ran as LPR's
candidate for mayor of Warsaw, and last week finished behind

WARSAW 00002415 002.2 OF 002


the joke candidate from the "Gnomes and Bumpkins" party.
Commenting on his poor finish, Wierzejski blamed the quality
of voters in Warsaw.

From Mohair Beret to Mohawk: A Failed Strategy
-------------- --


6. (C) Giertych's efforts to infuse a new spirit into LPR by
highlighting the All-Poland Youth have largely failed. LPR
was viewed as the biggest loser in regional elections held on
November 12, finishing behind all other major parties. LPR
support fell below five percent overall, the minimum
threshold for representation at town council, city council
and regional assemblies alike. However, it was not entirely
shut out, gaining over five percent of the vote in some
(mostly rural) areas to ensure representation on some
regional, city, and town councils. In presidential and
parliamentary races in 2001 and 2005, LPR consistently polled
just below eight percent. Its best result was in the 2004 EU
elections, when its highly motivated, anti-EU voters
delivered nearly sixteen percent of the vote, winning ten of
Poland's 54 EU parliamentary seats. Giertych's efforts,
starting in 2005, to put a new face on LPR by promoting
colleagues from All Poland Youth has not worked. Numerous
long-time members left the party, and many voters deserted to
PiS. More recently, six LPR deputies defected from the LPR
caucus to join the "National Peasant's Caucus" in September,
when Poland's governing coalition was threatened with
disintegration. Giertych, however, may have learned his
lesson. On November 16, the LPR caucus elected Janusz
Dobrosz as their new deputy speaker of the Sejm, replacing
Marek Kotlinowski, who was elected to the Constitutional
Court. Dobrosz, 54, joined LPR in 2003 after leaving the
Polish Peasants Party, and thus is part of LPR's (literal and
figurative) "old guard," compared to his All Poland Youth
colleagues.


7. (C) Another reason for LPR's increasingly dismal showing
was the 2005 switch in allegiance of ultra-Catholic (and
frequently anti-Semitic) Radio Maryja. Long an LPR advocate,
Radio Maryja's controversial chief, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk,
abruptly changed horses in 2005, when he urged listeners to
support the Law and Justice party (PiS). Radio Maryja
listeners, sometimes referred to as "Mohair Berets" owing to
their choice of hats, are the backbone of rural "Polska B,"
and had been the (predominantly older and female) core of
LPR's constitutency. Disgruntled by Giertych's promotion of
the youth wing and wooed by PiS, many have deserted Giertych.
Radio Maryja continues to urge its listeners to support PiS
and not LPR, fitting into PiS's plan to "devour" its smaller
coalition partners by wooing their voters. The Israeli
Ambassador told the Charge on November 15 that President
Kaczynski said that "Radio Maryja listeners vote for PiS. We
don't want them to vote for anyone else."


8. (C) Comment: A November 17 press report that Giertych
will shift tactics again by making older LPR members, rather
than the brash, young All Poland Youth leaders, its public
face, suggests he is trying to plot LPR's recovery or at
least its survival. If it cannot improve its position, it
will not win any seats in the next parliamentary elections.
But it faces a challenge. PiS effectively has adopted the
same nationalist and Catholic rhetoric (without
anti-Semitism),and in doing so has managed to peel away
LPR's core support. But PiS still needs LPR and its deputies
to maintain its slender hold on a parliamentary majority, and
we do not expect Giertych, who is only 35, to disappear.
Like SO's Andrzej Lepper, his "outlander" status is part of
his appeal to some voters, and he remains a suave and media
savvy politician. Polish government officials are
simultaneously troubled by some of his more extreme views
(not to mention the views expressed by All Poland Youth
members),and aware that they need LPR--at least for now.
End Comment.
HILLAS