Polish presidential candidate takes flak for praising literary alter ego

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish presidential candidate faced accusations on Tuesday he took self-promotion too far, after local media reported he praised his own work as a historian in a 2018 interview in which he appeared under a pseudonym.

The reports provoked ridicule from political opponents of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate supported by Poland's main nationalist opposition party Law and Justice. Political scientists said they dealt a blow to a campaign already facing a tough fight to reach the second round runoff.

Nawrocki, the head of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance and previous head of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, published a book about gangster Nikodem Skotarczak in 2018, using the pen name Tadeusz Batyr.

In an interview with state broadcaster TVP that year, Batyr, with his face blurred and voice changed, lauded the work of Karol Nawrocki.

"He is actually a historian who inspired me to do my work," Batyr said about Nawrocki, without mentioning that the two were the same person.

In a 2018 social media post, Nawrocki said he had been contacted by Batyr for "a few tips."

Supporters of liberal frontrunner Rafal Trzaskowski were quick to poke fun at what they characterised as a case of split personality.

"If you, Karol, believe that you met with Tadeusz and exchanged views and information, then the matter looks serious," Bartosz Arlukowicz, a pediatrician and member of the European Parliament from Trzaskowski's Civic Coalition grouping, wrote on X. "This is no longer a joke."

Nawrocki brushed off the criticism.

"Literary pseudonyms are nothing new in Polish journalism, literature and science," he told reporters, adding that he had not wanted to have the Museum of the Second World War associated with his book about a gangster.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Rod Nickel)