(WARSAW) - Poland's conservative President Lech Kaczynski said Thursday he was confident his country will ratify the European Union's Lisbon Treaty in April, despite a domestic political spat over it.

"The treaty will be ratified by Poland, and most certainly, I deeply believe, by parliament," Kaczynski said in an interview in Poland's Dziennik daily published Thursday.

"The ratification should succeed in parliament. I think the matter will be resolved by the end of April," he said. "I can't imagine the treaty would fail because of Poland."

"I really want ratification," Kaczynski declared.

In Poland the treaty must be ratified either by a two-thirds majority in parliament or by public referendum before the president can finally approve it.

Opposition votes are needed for ratification as liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government lacks the required two-thirds majority.

A law drafted by Tusk's government to ratify the treaty was sent to parliamentary committee Tuesday, with the vote on the EU-wide reform treaty delayed amid wrangling with the eurosceptic opposition.

Kaczynski on Tuesday also submitted to parliament his own ratification bill which he said was designed to protect Poland's national interests better than Tusk's draft.

Tusk's liberal Civic Platform party has proposed a simple green light ratification package for the treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making in the 27-member EU and introduce a human rights charter.

The president's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, threatened last week to torpedo the treaty in parliament, even though the brothers helped negotiate the accord last year, at the time trumpeting it as a success for Poland.

Currently leader of the conservative opposition, Jaroslaw Kaczynski lost power to pro-EU liberal Tusk in snap election last October.

Tusk has warned he could call a referendum on the treaty, should it fail to clear parliament. A solid majority of Poles would vote yes, according to an opinion poll published this week.

Lech Kaczynski insists his ratification proposal guarantees Poland's ability to invoke the so-called "British protocol" opt-out of the Lisbon Treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights and thus avoid European Court of Justice rulings on an array of issues.

He argued the charter could let Germans sue Poles for properties lost after border changes following World War II, and allow homosexual marriage in Poland, a devoutly Catholic country.

Adopted by EU leaders in December, the treaty replaces the bloc's defunct draft constitution, torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.

All 27 EU countries must individually ratify the treaty for it to come into effect, as planned, next year.

Last month France became the first EU heavyweight to approve it by parliamentary vote. Hungary, Malta, Romania and Slovenia have also done so, while Ireland is the only member planning a referendum.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.