Poland: Far-right party chooses presidential candidate

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s far-right Confederation party on Saturday chose a lawmaker who previously led an ultra-nationalist youth organization as its candidate in the country’s spring presidential election.

Krzysztof Bosak, one of the 11 Confederation members elected to Poland’s 460-seat parliament in October, vowed to adhere to the party’s conservative Christian values.

Bosak, 37, said after his nomination at a party convention in Warsaw that he would work to promote patriotism and to make Poland a “strong nation of free people.”

As leader of the All-Poland Youth organization, Bosak helped organize an extreme-right march on Poland’s independence day that attracted white nationalists and neo-Nazi groups.

Confederation has support of some 8% of potential voters, polls show.

The presidential election is expected in May. Other candidates are the incumbent, Andrzej Duda, with backing from the ruling Law and Justice party, and Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska of the main opposition Civic Platform party.