Polish opposition bares all against Kaczynski twins

Remember the buzz sparked by Hillary Clinton’s “plunging” neckline? She’s got nothing on the Poles.

In a new advertisement, several female candidates of the Polish Women’s Party running for seats in next month’s parliamentary elections posed nude, covered only by a sign that reads: “Everything for the Future … and nothing to hide.” According to novelist Manuela Gretkowska, head of the 1,500-strong party that was created this year:

This poster is intended to shatter stereotypes in the anachronistic world of politics, which is more often dominated by uncommunicative men with their black tie outfits. We are beautiful, nude, proud. This is not pornography, there is nothing to see in terms of sex. Our faces are intelligent, concerned, proud.

The party isn’t expected to win any seats in the upcoming election, but its emergence shows growing opposition to the ruling Law and Justice Party, led by the Kaczynski twins—President Lech and Prime Minister Jaroslav. Since they came to power two years ago, the brothers have been accused of tapping the phones of journalists, fostering anti-EU (especially anti-German) sentiments within the country, and creating, as Der Spiegel put it recently, a “permanent sense of emergency.” In short, they’ve turned the country far to the right, not unlike the Bush administration did in the president’s first term (and it’s telling that the Poles are among the president’s closest allies).

But will the Polish electorate react the same way as voters in the United States did in the 2006 midterms? It’s not likely. But as the, um, emergence of the Polish Women’s Party shows, resistance to the Kaczynskis is getting more creative, at least.