Vodka tycoon makes a splash in Polish politics

A FLAMBOYANT vodka tycoon is shaking up Polish politics by smashing the traditionally conservative country’s taboos and confronting its powerful Catholic Church.

Janusz Palikot’s party won 10 per cent of votes in Sunday’s general election, just a year after he struck out on his own political path, and among its 40 representatives in the new parliament will be Poland’s first transsexual and openly gay MPs.

Mr Palikot capitalised on frustration felt by many Poles, particularly young urban ones, towards a political elite that seems to be devoid of fresh ideas and unable to reflect the outlook of a new generation of voters who are far more liberal and internationally minded than their predecessors.

He split with the ruling Civic Platform last year, after tiring of its attempts to muzzle him and tone down the headline-grabbing statements and publicity stunts for which he is both loved and loathed by many Poles. Mr Palikot (46) is perhaps best known for conducting a press conference while wielding a fake gun and a plastic penis, to draw attention to a brutal case of sexual assault by a policeman.

He also outraged followers of the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) by challenging its ex-prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski over his sexuality and suggesting that his twin brother Lech, a former Polish president, had a drink problem and was to blame for an aircraft crash that killed him and 94 others in Russia in 2010.

Critics dismiss Mr Palikot as an egomaniacal clown who should have stuck to making vodka and wine, the business that made him a fortune before he entered politics.

But his bold platform to liberalise Polish society and streamline its economy has won him many supporters.

Mr Palikot wants to make it easier for women to get abortions and IVF treatment, and to legalise soft drugs and gay civil unions.

He is also determined to create a deeper division between Polish church and state, by removing crosses from public buildings, ending compulsory catechism classes in schools, banning the clergy from state ceremonies and halting public funding for the Catholic Church.

“We’re fighting the church which is both a political party and a financial corporation. The church should not get involved in politics nor accumulate wealth,” Mr Palikot said on the campaign trail. Citing recent surveys that suggest church attendance and vocations are on the wane, Mr Palikot said it was “an illusion that Poland is so extremely Catholic. We want to remove religion from the public spaces.”

Poland’s clergy, who strongly favour PiS and its defence of “traditional Polish values”, have not taken kindly to Mr Palikot’s challenge. “We don’t have the right to elect someone who supports legalising gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia. It’s forbidden!” Bishop Stanislaw Napierala said before the election, which saw PiS come second with 30 per cent of votes behind Civic Platform with 39 per cent.

While proposing social changes that Civic Platform dares not touch for fear of losing popularity, Mr Palikot also advocates economic reform that might be too bold for prime minister Donald Tusk.

Mr Palikot wants to slash bureaucracy and streamline the state by eliminating at least one government ministry and the upper house of parliament and by shrinking the lower house. He also wants to introduce flat taxes, cut spending on the military and pensions and raise the retirement age.

Many businessmen favour such reforms and want Mr Tusk’s government to be braver than in its first term, and it may need to be if it is to reduce Poland’s growing budget deficit. Young Poles – among whom unemployment is particularly high – also hope Mr Palikot’s plans could generate jobs and maintain the current economic growth.

Civic Platform is likely to continue in coalition with the Peasants’ Party, which came fourth in the vote with 31 seats. But the presence in parliament of the more radical Palikot Movement could provide impetus for the tough reforms that parts of the coalition have so far resisted.

“We are ready to support a government that Poland is waiting for,” Mr Palikot said.