Poland’s ruling party got a green light to probe opposition leader Donald Tusk five months before a tightly contested election.
(Bloomberg) — Poland’s ruling party got a green light to probe opposition leader Donald Tusk five months before a tightly contested election.
President Andrzej Duda on Monday signed into a law legislation to create a panel designed to investigate Russia’s influence in Poland between 2007 and 2022. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, ruling Law & Justice party leader, has for years accused Tusk of tolerating Russian influence during his tenure as prime minister before 2015.
“Public opinion has to make up its own mind over the actions of the representatives they choose in the general election,” Duda told reporters in Warsaw, three days after the controversial law was approved in a parliamentary vote. Russia’s influence in Poland is a fact and needs to be explained, he added.
The move places the issue front and center amid campaigning ahead of the vote slated for October, in which Law & Justice risks losing its grip on power. The government has blamed Russia for everything from spreading misinformation to being behind high inflation since the invasion of Ukraine began last year.
Critics have leveled sharp criticism at the planned committee, which would have unprecedented powers, including the ability to effectively ban officials from pursuing public office.
Duda said he will also ask the country’s top court to review the law, citing doubts in some parts of the public over its compliance with the constitution.
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