Back on the case

The banking industry's Investigative Commission has been reactivated according to a decision from the Sejm issued in March. The Sejm has already approved a working schedule and has set the date for its first plenary sitting for April 17.

The Commission was called upon in March 2006 for the purpose of examining privatization practices in the banking sector. This included monitoring the activities of the National Bank of Poland and the Banking Supervision Commission between 1989 and 2006 based on alleged irregularities and corruption. However, following the Constitutional Tribunal's verdict of last September, the Commission's work was suspended on the grounds that the scope of its competency had not been specified in full.

The Commission's opponents also argue that the Constitution allows the Commission to be called only with regard to certain cases and it claims that the issue of privatization, especially from as far back as 1989-2006, does not meet this requirement.

In spite of the opposition, Artur Zawisza, the head of the Commission, says that it will continue its work. "We have been called to serve the Sejm," he told WBJ.

On April 28 Józef Oleksy, the former Prime Minister, will be the first witness to be questioned. In an informal conversation with businessman Aleksander Gudzowaty in autumn last year, Oleksy said that privatization of the banking sector was full of "dirty deals." The conversation was secretly recorded and was publicized several weeks ago.

Artur Zawisza told WBJ that Józef Oleksy would not be the principal witness in the case but will be called upon to give an "overview" of what happened during banking privatization in the period in question.