Telling the Poles apart: a political double-take

THE US has its political power families — the Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes. But nothing quite like what is developing in Poland.

Poland faces the almost certain prospect of having identical twin brothers simultaneously holding the posts of prime minister and president in what would perhaps be the most striking feature of the country’s ever-chaotic political scene.

President Lech Kaczynski, who took office in December was preparing to swear in his twin, Jaroslaw, as the head of a new cabinet after Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz submitted his resignation to the governing Law and Justice Party on Saturday.

Since the socially conservative party won elections last autumn, Jaroslaw Kaczynski has used his role as chairman of it to guide the Government — but always from the sidelines.

It was the popular Marcinkiewicz who represented the Government in Brussels and other capitals.

But the two apparently fell out over Marcinkiewicz’s choice of a new finance minister, and on Saturday, party officials accepted Marcinkiewicz’s resignation and said they had chosen Kaczynski to replace him.

The prospect of having identical portly, grey-haired 57-year-old twins in the two top posts has loomed as a possibility since Lech embarked on his presidential campaign last year.

Though both men have the same round faces and short, stout builds, Lech has two telltale moles on his face and wears a wedding ring.