Punch-ups and tobacco pouches: Polish presidential race gets personal

By Alan Charlish

WARSAW (Reuters) -The centrist frontrunner in Poland's knife-edge presidential election on Sunday says Poles know everything about him, contrasting that with the slew of media reports about his nationalist opponent's alleged past conduct.

"The President of the Republic of Poland cannot be someone about whom we learn something every day that not only puzzles us, but often terrifies us," Rafal Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition, told a rally in the southern Polish town of Chrzanow on Tuesday.

The past of opposition Law and Justice-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki has dominated public debate - be it questions over his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner or an admission that he took part in orchestrated brawls.

"All my sports activities were based on the strength of my heart, the strength of my muscles, my fists," Nawrocki, a historian and amateur boxer, told a debate when confronted over reports he had been involved in mass organised fights between football hooligans.

"It was a fair competition, regardless of the form."

He had previously denied wrongdoing in relation to accusations that he lied about owning the flat, a second property, and that he had acquired it from the elderly man in return for a promise of care which he did not provide.

After questioning about the issue, he said he would give the flat to charity, dismissing what he called "media lies".

Nawrocki also faced criticism for inserting a 'snus' tobacco pouch under his lip during a live debate, with an Opinia24 survey for private broadcaster TVN showing that 53% of respondents viewed this negatively.

His Law and Justice party backers have accused the government of orchestrating the controversies with the help of Poland's special services and liberal media. The government rejects these accusations.

Trzaskowski, meanwhile, has faced questions over whether a series of advertisements criticising his opponents subverted campaign spending rules. He also denies any wrongdoing.

If he wins, the Polish government will be able to continue reforms to bring it into line with European Union norms on issues like judicial independence and LGBT rights.

If Nawrocki wins, he is likely to use his veto, as the current president has done, to block them, arguing that Poland should take a conservative path inspired by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

POLL NUMBERS

Despite the stream of negative coverage, Nawrocki's polling numbers appear largely unscathed, with Trzaskowski's lead within the margin of error.

A survey by CBOS showed that 99% of people who voted for Nawrocki in the first round would also back him in the second.

Andrzej Rychard, a sociologist from the Polish Academy of Science, said that the deep polarisation in Polish politics meant that many Law and Justice voters dismissed the allegations as untrue or decided that "even if it is true, it still does not bother me".

Added to this Rychard said that Nawrocki had projected an image of himself as someone from a humble background who can get things done.

"He comes rather from the bottom, that is, from difficult environments, which does not necessarily have to be a source of antipathy, on the contrary, it may be well-received by a large part of the electorate, who do not identify with the elite."

Nawrocki's campaign say that Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski is an out-of-touch metropolitan liberal who doesn't understand ordinary Poles. They have mocked his fluency in five foreign languages, nicknaming him 'Bazur', a Polonised transcription of the French word 'bonjour'.

For Trzaskowski's supporters, meanwhile, the allegations about Nawrocki make him completely unsuitable for the nation's highest office.

"He has no idea about politics," said 68-year-old market trader Stanislaw, who declined to give his surname and repeated some of the allegations in the media reports to show why he did not trust him.

Jacek, a 73-year-old pensioner who also declined to give his surname, took a different view.

"He is a patriot, kind to people, an honest person, a strong person, which is exactly what we are missing," he said.

Asked about Nawrocki's involvement in fights, he said "young people do those kinds of things".

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; editing by Philippa Fletcher)