Far right march organiser to run in election for ruling camp

The former organiser of a far-right march, who also has a conviction for assault, will run in the October 15 parliamentary elections for the governing United Right coalition.

Robert Bakiewicz will take the last place on the Law and Justice's (PiS) election list in the central city of Radom, Marek Suski, a PiS MP, told the Polsat News broadcaster on Friday.

Along with organising the march, Bakiewiecz was once a leader of the ONR, a far-right group which has roots in pre-war Poland.

Bakiewicz's candidacy was put forward by Sovereign Poland, PiS's junior partner in the ruling coalition, Suski added.

"We, as heads of constituencies, present proposals for the list, then it is discussed and some changes are made. Here, Solidarna Polska (Sovereign Poland - PAP) as a coalition partner submitted the candidacy of Mr. Bakiewicz for the last position," he said.

Referring to Bakiewicz's conviction for "violating bodily integrity," and his subsequent dismissal as the president of the Independence March Association, the organiser of the march, Suski replied that reports on the case indicated that "the violation was not very serious."

"There is no ban on running for people who have had some problems in their lives," he added.

Suski said that earlier he had known Bakiewicz only from press reports but when they met he turned out to be a "cultured, nice man."