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When, on November 25, 2024, the Ultra -Conservative Law and Justice (PIS) party announced the name of its candidate, it was not just the media that were surprised. Many inside PIS itself did not know either. His first appearances generated apprehension – he looked hard, had little rhetorical skill, read his speeches on paper, and boasting a forced smile.
it seemed to have the victory guaranteed even before the campaign started for real. At first, Trzaskowski appeared in the polls with a percentage or even more advantage.
But over time, PIS president’s bet, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, proved right. Nawrock himself admitted to being a “Kaczynski’s creation.” He was introduced to the electorate as a “citizen candidate” who only “supported” it, but without party and independent affiliation.
The trick aimed to deceive voters who did not forget the violations of the rule of law and chaos in the tax system during the eight years of PIS government (2015–2023).
“Nawrocki has evolved greatly rhetorically. He learns quickly from his own mistakes. That’s why it’s so dangerous,” says political scientist Antoni Dudek.
Humble
Born in Gdansk, Nawrocki, 42, has humble origin. Formed in history, he obtained his doctorate with a thesis on anti -communist opposition in northeastern Poland.
In 2017, he was in charge of reformulating the World War II Museum in GDansk-an institution created by experts linked to the current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk-to adapt it to the ideological molds of PIS. The reform was characterized by layoffs and the “polonization” of the permanent exhibition, considered poorly patriotic.
In 2021, PIS was able to make Nawrocki head of the National Memory Institute (IPN), a body dedicated to the modern history of Poland and investigating crimes committed from the Russian revolution from 1917 to the end of the communist era in 1990.
The influential institute plays an important role in the dispute for national memory and was used by the Polish ultra -right as an advertising instrument. Nawrocki headed the IPN until recently.
“Man of flesh and bone”
Nawrock campaign under the motto “First Poland, first the Poles.” To voters, he presented himself as a man of “flesh and bone” who ascended by his own merit. “I am one of you, I am your voice,” he repeated frequently in rallies. He traveled to Washington in early May to take a picture next to him at the Oval Hall.
Like his mentor Kaczynski, Nawrock sees the European Union as a threat to Poland’s sovereignty and is a staunch critic of the EU’s green and migratory agreement – but avoids using the word “polexit.”
During the election campaign, he sometimes resorted to a hostile speech to Germany and even accused Tusk of being a “servant” of the neighboring country. And unlike Tusk, Nawrocki sees international aid to Ukraine with skepticism.
Past Hooligan
Nawrocki has one of his passions in amateur boxing. In youth, he won some successes in the weight-heavyweight category. Polish media accuses him of having kept in the past with the Hooligans scene and the underworld of crime.
He himself admitted to having participated in at least one beating between fans of two football teams, for which several participants were convicted – Nawrocki, however, was not identified at the time.
The politician, who in his youth came to work as a private security, was also accused of having accompanied prostitutes to the luxurious Grand Hotel in Sopot, according to the Onet News Portal. He would also have improperly appropriated a municipal apartment. The future president rejects the accusations, classifying them as defamation.
“Nawrocki has neither the moral prerequisites nor the technical competence to become head of state,” says Dudek, who chaired the IPN council between 2010 and 2016, before PIS arrives at power.
