A greedy and incompetent elite
Without greed we might still be living in pre-industrial times. We have all learned that greed, so long as it is restrained by the rule of law and by government committed to the idea of the public interest, can be a motor of progress.
Unfortunately, if you combine greed with incompetence and weak government, all you are left with is chaos and corruption. Nothing illustrates this as graphically as the two most visible stories in Poland at present: the biofuel bill and the Michnik vs. Rywin saga.
The PSL and potential producers of biofuel have successfully lobbied for a Biofuel Market Act. The bill will mean that more fuel components will be produced domestically and farmers will get more income from rapeseed. The lobbyists went too far and forced through a bill which does not safeguard the interests of motorists. They got too greedy and are likely to lose the law as Kwaniewski, egged on by motoring experts, will probably veto it. The SLD is unlikely to vote down a presidential veto as it doubts that the PSL would leave the coalition over such a move, and some of them want the PSL to leave the government anyway.
The oil lobby was also greedy. Instead of producing constructive amendments at the committee stage, it waited until the bill was in the Senate to virtually wreck it, which the lower house could not accept. Now that the law is lopsided and does nothing to protect motorists' interests, they are urging the President to veto it, knowing this would save them from having to share any fuel income with biofuel producers.
The country may now miss the chance to develop its biofuels industry and that farmers may not get the chance to diversify production and incomes. It is a pity the government and members of Parliament take so little care over public legislation.
The second story of greed involves the leading lights in politics and media. It was always predictable that the dreadful media bill would be used to raise funds for political campaigns as well as for neutering independent broadcasters. What's breathtaking is the incompetence of the actors from there on.
It is not difficult to imagine what would have happened had the editor of the Washington Post, instead of patiently waiting for Woodward and Bernstein to finish their Watergate investigation, gone running to Richard Nixon and asked him, "Did you bug the Democrats headquarters?" Nixon would have called the people who had done it mad, and taken care that all traces and leads were properly covered up.
The minute Adam Michnik went running to Leszek Miller was the moment the whole story was finished. It is ridiculous for Gazeta Wyborcza to claim that it waited six months with the publication of the story in order to complete an investigation into who inspired Lew Rywin to make his $17.5 million demand. If that was the case, why did Wprost allude to the story in August and why was the Minister of Justice questioned about it on TVN in September? The fact that the only traces of an "investigation" we find in the material published are interviews with two people Rywin names as his backers suggests that there was never any investigation.
The most likely reason for what transpired is that Michnik panicked on realising the implications of the unfolding story. He understood that if it could be proved that Miller and the government were involved, it would be curtains for the current political establishment. Michnik is no fan of Miller or the SLD, but he fears Lepper, the LPR and the Kaczyński twins far more. It is no surprise to find him unwilling to rock the boat before Copenhagen and to be giving Miller an easy let-out.
The reason why he published the details of the incident at the end of the year is that he still wants to kill the media bill and to weaken Miller against Kwaniewski. The Prime Minister's lack of action against Rywin when Miller's name had been used to leverage a bribe is the kind of political incompetence that inevitably will be used against him. Diversionary tactics such as government reshuffles will do little to help.
The professional incompetence of an editor who kills a story that could have brought down a government; the incompetence of a Prime Minister who is given the chance to extricate himself from the whole mess and fails to take it - both are absolutely typical of the way the ruling elites function around here.
The result of all this will be that Rywin will get a smart lawyer to get him off any charge the public prosecutor may bring. Miller will lose even more popularity with the public and within the SLD. Michnik's name will be dragged through the dirt, but he will at least manage to see off the media bill (Speaker Borowski has effectively kicked it into touch by appointing the executioner of all reforms: "a special committee") and may help to steer the SLD towards the centre. The public will look on in disgust and, come the referendum, could do a "Lithuania" and cock two fingers at the lot of "them."
Unfortunately, if you combine greed with incompetence and weak government, all you are left with is chaos and corruption. Nothing illustrates this as graphically as the two most visible stories in Poland at present: the biofuel bill and the Michnik vs. Rywin saga.
The PSL and potential producers of biofuel have successfully lobbied for a Biofuel Market Act. The bill will mean that more fuel components will be produced domestically and farmers will get more income from rapeseed. The lobbyists went too far and forced through a bill which does not safeguard the interests of motorists. They got too greedy and are likely to lose the law as Kwaniewski, egged on by motoring experts, will probably veto it. The SLD is unlikely to vote down a presidential veto as it doubts that the PSL would leave the coalition over such a move, and some of them want the PSL to leave the government anyway.
The oil lobby was also greedy. Instead of producing constructive amendments at the committee stage, it waited until the bill was in the Senate to virtually wreck it, which the lower house could not accept. Now that the law is lopsided and does nothing to protect motorists' interests, they are urging the President to veto it, knowing this would save them from having to share any fuel income with biofuel producers.
The country may now miss the chance to develop its biofuels industry and that farmers may not get the chance to diversify production and incomes. It is a pity the government and members of Parliament take so little care over public legislation.
The second story of greed involves the leading lights in politics and media. It was always predictable that the dreadful media bill would be used to raise funds for political campaigns as well as for neutering independent broadcasters. What's breathtaking is the incompetence of the actors from there on.
It is not difficult to imagine what would have happened had the editor of the Washington Post, instead of patiently waiting for Woodward and Bernstein to finish their Watergate investigation, gone running to Richard Nixon and asked him, "Did you bug the Democrats headquarters?" Nixon would have called the people who had done it mad, and taken care that all traces and leads were properly covered up.
The minute Adam Michnik went running to Leszek Miller was the moment the whole story was finished. It is ridiculous for Gazeta Wyborcza to claim that it waited six months with the publication of the story in order to complete an investigation into who inspired Lew Rywin to make his $17.5 million demand. If that was the case, why did Wprost allude to the story in August and why was the Minister of Justice questioned about it on TVN in September? The fact that the only traces of an "investigation" we find in the material published are interviews with two people Rywin names as his backers suggests that there was never any investigation.
The most likely reason for what transpired is that Michnik panicked on realising the implications of the unfolding story. He understood that if it could be proved that Miller and the government were involved, it would be curtains for the current political establishment. Michnik is no fan of Miller or the SLD, but he fears Lepper, the LPR and the Kaczyński twins far more. It is no surprise to find him unwilling to rock the boat before Copenhagen and to be giving Miller an easy let-out.
The reason why he published the details of the incident at the end of the year is that he still wants to kill the media bill and to weaken Miller against Kwaniewski. The Prime Minister's lack of action against Rywin when Miller's name had been used to leverage a bribe is the kind of political incompetence that inevitably will be used against him. Diversionary tactics such as government reshuffles will do little to help.
The professional incompetence of an editor who kills a story that could have brought down a government; the incompetence of a Prime Minister who is given the chance to extricate himself from the whole mess and fails to take it - both are absolutely typical of the way the ruling elites function around here.
The result of all this will be that Rywin will get a smart lawyer to get him off any charge the public prosecutor may bring. Miller will lose even more popularity with the public and within the SLD. Michnik's name will be dragged through the dirt, but he will at least manage to see off the media bill (Speaker Borowski has effectively kicked it into touch by appointing the executioner of all reforms: "a special committee") and may help to steer the SLD towards the centre. The public will look on in disgust and, come the referendum, could do a "Lithuania" and cock two fingers at the lot of "them."
