Government gets tough on graft

While discussing the draft bill on state radio station Program Pierwszy (Radio 1), Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, said: "This is the beginning of the building of a service that is going to watch over us all, that is going to supervise the contact of our administration and our government with the economy."

Once drafted, the bill would then have to go to the Sejm where the minority government would have to drum up enough support for it to be passed into law.

Corruption is a persistent problem in Poland. In 2005 Transparency International's corruption index ranked Poland as the most corrupt of the 25 EU member states and 70th internationally, which tied it with Syria and Burkina Faso. In addition, members of the former left-wing SLD government were linked to corruption scandals, a fact which contributed to the party's defeat in last year's general election.

The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) and a crackdown on corruption was one of Law and Justice's (PiS) election promises.

It is envisaged that the CBA will have powers similar to those of other special services and the police, meaning it will have the power to check a person's ID, search people and buildings and tap private telephone calls. Its officers will also carry weapons.

The bureau will focus on how political parties are financed and the links between politicians and business. The CBA will also have the power to take cases to court. (Reuters)