Balcerowicz's last stand

Leszek Balcerowicz, the president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), has repeatedly said that he would not testify in front of the parliamentary investigative commission into the banking sector until the Constitutional Tribunal ruled on the commission's legality on September 21. He argues that the situation would set a precedent that could affect the independence of the central bank. The commission still summoned him last Friday and, when he didn't appear, it decided to fine him. The penalty could be up to zł.3,000.

The commission has set a new date for Balcerowicz's hearing on September 26.

Earlier last week the commission questioned Balcerowicz's wife, the president of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE), an independent foundation working for the UN, EU and the current government. Her position at CASE was said to be a conflict of interest. "We haven't received any explanation why we should be questioned so we treat tomorrow's questioning as an extraordinary way of presenting what CASE is doing," said Ewa Balcerowicz on the day before she was due to appear before the commission, which found no evidence of the alleged conflict.

At the same time, the opposition claims that Artur Zawisza is at the center of a conflict of interest. He didn't allow the commission to investigate SKOKs - a quasi-banking institution acting as a bank but not under the jurisdiction of the Banking Supervisory Commission, with which many PiS officials are involved.

Last Thursday, however, Andrzej Grad, a member of the investigative commission from Civic Platform (PO), filed a motion to include SKOKs in the commission's remit while two members from Law and Justice (PiS), Zawisza and Adam Hofman, were absent.

The motion was passed, thanks in part to Self-defense's Waldemar Nowakowski, who supported it.