Warsaw - Poland's former president Aleksander Kwasniewski,
52, has announced he intends to return to politics in the wake of
what he terms controversial policy moves by Poland's current right-
wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) government, according to the
liberal Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
'Today.... you can see the take-over of the state by the governing
party, the party taking control of areas which should be part of a
democratic state or civil society - you can see it everywhere,'
Kwasniewski said, referring to the governing conservative Law and
Justice (PiS) party.
'I'm referring to the foreign ministry, the administration of
justice, the prosecutor's office, police, public media. This is why
I'm returning. The situation is becoming so difficult that all hands
must be on deck,' he said.
The conservative government of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski
has recently come under fire, among other things, for the
controversial proposals of its Catholic-nationalist junior coalition
partner, the League of Polish Families (LPR).
LPR leader, Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Roman
Giertych recently sparked controversy by condemning what he termed
'homosexual propaganda'.
He is currently drafting legislation which would see gay rights
groups banned from visiting schools and the possible firing of any
school official who publicly endorses equal rights for homosexuals.
Both moves appear to be unconstitutional.
One of Poland's all time most respected politicians, Aleksander
Kwasniewski left the presidency in late 2005 after serving two
consecutive terms in office.
In 1995 he succeeded Solidarity legend Lech Walesa, Poland's first
democratically elected president after the 1989 collapse of
communism.
Kwasniewski himself was succeeded by arch-rival, current President
Lech Kaczynski, the identical twin brother of serving Prime Minister
Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
An ex-communist, Kwasniewski is an ex-communist turned left-wing
moderate social democrat.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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