Kaczynskis hurt Poland's image: leftist leader

By Gabriela Baczynska and Adam Jasser

WARSAW (Reuters) - The ruling Kaczynski brothers risked turning Poland into an international laughing stock with their outdated conservatism, according to the head of the leftist opposition preparing for a parliamentary election.

Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Polish president who now heads a centre-left alliance (LiD), said the election offered a chance to reverse the eurosceptic and nationalistic policies of the brothers' Law and Justice party.

"A very bad thing has happened to Poland during the last two years," Kwasniewski told Reuters in an interview.

"First, there was disbelief that Poland could end up with such a nationalistic government, then people thought they just could not understand Poland, now this has reached a laughable stage."

The Kaczynskis, identical twins who are prime minister and president, have irked Poland's EU partners over a variety of issues ranging from gay rights to the revised EU treaty they threatened to block.

They have also been the butt of jokes in Poland and abroad for their attitudes to modern life.

Kwasniewski is a reformed communist who, as president, oversaw the Polish drive to join the EU and NATO.

He criticized the government for bringing up historical grievances against Germany even though Poland's western neighbor was the advocate of Polish EU entry and is the largest contributor to billions of euro in EU funds Warsaw is drawing.

He said Germany-bashing was a populist tactic meant to mobilize those who are still bitter about Nazi atrocities during World War Two, but it caused Poland to be isolated in the EU.

"You cannot burden Polish-German relations with stereotypes," Kwasniewski said. "Playing on such stereotypes and modernizing Poland at the same time is not possible, this only takes Poland backwards."

READY FOR COALITION

Kwasniewski said LiD would be ready to join the main opposition party, pro-business Civic Platform, in the next government after the election, which is likely to be held on October 21.

Opinion polls show Law and Justice trailing Civic Platform by several points with the left in the third place. With no party likely to capture an outright majority, a coalition government is likely.

"A coalition between Civic Platform and LiD would be politically natural," Kwasniewski said.

He said the two parties would agree to take Poland back into the EU mainstream, with the neglected drive to adopt the euro at the top of the agenda.