Civic Platform uses tough methods to clean its ranks

The leaders of PO have been talking about a purge for a year, but only now have they made some definite decisions. Paweł Piskorski was dismissed from PO two weeks ago after it was revealed that he had bought vast areas of land only in order to profit from EU subsidies. Now it was time to deal with those associated with Piskorski, who recently took control over PO's authorities in the Mazowsze region. As a result, Piotr Fogler and Sławomir Potapowicz among others have been removed from the party. "The main charge is causing damage to PO's image," explained Grzegorz Schetyna, PO's general secretary. Potapowicz does not agree, "Tusk is using Bolshevik methods. He has executed the sentence, but he did not reveal what the crime was." Jan Artymowski, former assistant to Piskorski added, "The Platform is no longer civic. It is now an authoritarian party." (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 5) M.K.