Political Influence

Father Tadusz Rydzyk, a radical Polish priest has become the "king-maker" of his country's election campaign. The priest runs the Radio Maryja Catholic Media Network and his messages to the faithful could influence the outcome of the polls.

The coalition led by the prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, fell apart last month and an election campaign has begun. While Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother Lech, who serves as president, are well known for their grip on the secular levers of control - including a myriad of security services - Fr. Rydzyk has emerged as a power broker who claims his power from a higher authority.

In staunchly Roman Catholic Poland, the ability to mobilise the faithful in their pews and at the ballot box is critical. Run from a fenced compound in the city of Torun, 75 miles north-west of Warsaw, Radio Maryja was created by Fr Rydzyk in 1991 and has one million listeners a day. Others read the priest's newspaper or watch his television program. Radio Maryja has become a crucial political ally of the conservative Kaczynski twins. "Radio Maryja has up to 1-2 million listeners. But they are a very specific group - usually old, and very disciplined voters," said Dr Jacek Kucharczyk, from Poland's independent political think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs.

"In the 2005 elections, with Poland's low turnout, the Kaczynskis won with just 3.5 million votes, so a block of one million voters is huge. It has made Rydzyk a king-maker."That power has increasingly allowed Fr Rydzyk to impose Radio Maryja's agenda on national politics in Poland.In part that means homespun family values.But Radio Maryja's critics argue that Fr Rydzyk and his media empire are also anti-Semitic and homophobic."It is extremist. The political message is xenophobic, notoriously anti-Semitic, anti-German, homophobic - you name it," said Dr Kucharczyk.