http://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=121489
Environment minister to get canned?
08.12.2009
Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected to announce the resignation of Environment Minister Maciej Nowicki today, according to media reports.
The resignation of the official will be no surprise, as it had been planned for some time, says Wojciech Stepniewski, from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Stepniewski believes Nowicki is an outstanding expert in his field, and his resignation indicates that the Environment Ministry will from now on be run solely by politicians.
"It looks as though we are doing away with an expert's opinion in the Environment Ministry to give way to politics again,” laments Stepniewski.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk should account for the official’s resigning from the post, as losing such a good specialist cannot go unmentioned, says MP Janusz Piechociński, from the Polish Peasants’ Party. The official claims that leaks to the media on the matter right before the Climate Conference in Copenhagen was a serious misstep.
"Releasing such information just when the minister was opening the summit is simply dramatic. It shows that many politicians and media representatives lack imagination, as even though all those who had known this scenario was likely to happen after Copenhagen, they should keep quite as this shows the Polish representative at an unfavorable light at an international meeting of key significance," says Piechocinski.
According to weekly Wprost the resignation of Minister Nowicki comes in the wake of a conflict between the Civic Platform official and deputy minister Stanislaw Gawlowski. Another reason for stepping down is allegedly a dispute between the politician and Prime Minister Donald Tusk over the allocation of funds gained from selling carbon emission permits to Spain. Maciej Nowicki wants the sum earmarked for climate protection, contrary to the opinion of Donald Tusk, who wants to designate the sum to a different end, writes the weekly.
Wprost claims the decision was taken on Friday, yet due to the minister’s participation in the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, the move will be announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk today.
Maciej Nowicki has held the post of environment minister since November 2007. (aba/mmj)