The left of Poland's political scene is shaken by repercussions of the 'tape scandal', in which one of Poland's most powerful businessmen, Aleksander Gudzowaty, taped Poland's former post-communist Prime Minister Józef Oleksy accusing his party colleagues of corruption.
Joanna Najfeld reports
Józef Oleksy, Poland's former post-communist Prime Minister of the Democratic Left Alliance decided to leave his party, following a major 'tape scandal', in which Oleksy was secretly recorded in a private conversation accusing his party colleagues of involvement in corruption on a mass scale.
Aleksander Gudzowaty, a businessman for years connected closely to Poland's post-communist Left, passed the tapes to the police. Among those accused of corruption by Józef Oleksy were Poland's former post-communist President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and former Prime Minister Leszek Miller.
Edward Lucas of The Economist thinks the allegations are substantiated.
'For me, this is entirely convincing, because I always thought that the previous government was quite corrupt and got away with a lot and I always say in The Economist that the previous government were, I usually say sleazy but effective, because they were effective from the western point of view. They got Poland into the EU, they helped sort out Ukraine during Orange Revolution, they were loyal allies of NATO and of the United States. So, from an outside point of view, they were dependable and helpful. But I always felt they had extremely suspicious links to these businesses and so on. So, this doesn't surprise me. I'm glad that it's come out and I hope we'll find out a lot more.'
The Polish weekly Wprost was one of the first to tackle the affair. Krzysztof Trębski of Wprost:
'What was always suspected by many of the Poles, now was more or less confirmed by the tapes. The former Polish Prime Minister, Józef Oleksy, unaware of being recorded by one of the richest Polish businessmen, honestly talked about his political colleagues and there were several serious accusations. Oleksy said that the former Prime Minister Leszek Miller and his son were involved in corruption, that the former President Aleksander Kwasniewski spent more than he ever earned, which raises the question of where does the money come from. This recording really shook a major part of society.'
The revelations, which are yet to be investigated by proper authorities, caused major uproar on the left of Poland's political scene, with leftist leaders vehemently denying the accusations. Former post-communist President Aleksander Kwasniewski called Józef Oleksy a traitor and other Democratic Left Alliance members called for Oleksy's exclusion from the party.
Paweł Wroński of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily notices that the scandal is damaging both to the accuser and the accused, especially to former President Aleksander Kwasniewski on the eve of his long planned political comeback. Recent public opinion polls, show that Kwaśniewski has been discredited in the eyes of over a half of Poland's public opinion. Paweł Wroński:
'It is the finish of the political career of Józef Oleksy, but it's interesting that it happened at a very important moment, because at the same time, Polish former President Aleksander Kwasniewski declared his comeback to politics. So, at the same time people in Poland heard that he has a problem with explaining his property, and that he is a little liar. It will be a difficult comeback to politics for Kwaśniewski.'
This scandal can be helpful in understanding the current government's attitude towards the previous post-communist Cabinet and all its suspicious connections, often termed 'układ' by Poland's present ruling politicians, says Edward Lucas of The Economist:
'I think it would be good if people in the West would know about it, because I think it would help explain more why many Poles feel that the Kaczyńskis are actually right on this. To an extent it shows that when Jarosław Kaczynski talks about the 'układ', he is not talking nonsense. This is a good example of the kind of 'układ' behavior. A lot of people still feel that the Kaczyńskis' real dislike of the past government is irrational or unsubstantiated and that's not true. There's a lot to dislike about the previous rulers of Poland and how they behaved. This scandal gives a good example of it.'
The 'tape scandal' comes in the wake of other corruption allegations of prominent politicians of Poland's former post-communist government and the Democratic Left Alliance Party. However, no official charges in connection with this case have yet been made.
See also:
Poland's ex-president Kwasniewski and ex-PM Miller accused of corruption (March 16, 2007)Poland's former PM's son's suspicious million dollar deal (January 9, 2007)