On the defensive

By Mirko Kaupat

He sees himself as a victim of the Rywin scandal rather than a part of it.

So said Leszek Miller during his long-awaited testimony before the Sejm commission investigating the Rywingate tribery scandal. It proved to be yet another political battle for the beleaguered prime minister, but did not help anyone to get closer to the truth.

At least that's what the public believes. In a recent opinion poll half those surveyed declared that the prime minister's statements haven't been useful for the investigation, while 24% said that it would be more difficult now to find out the facts of the scandal.

"My name has been implicated in this story without any basis and justification, defaming me and undermining trust in me," Miller complained to the commission. On the other hand, he admitted that he could have gone to the public prosecutor last summer when he learned the facts of the bribery proposition from Adam Michnik, editor of the daily Gazeta Wyborcza. Until now, however, Miller said that he couldn't state why he didn't inform the prosecutor, apart from stressing again and again that the whole matter was "too absurd." Miller added that he still wasn't certain if Michnik's tapes and notes of his conversation with film producer Lew Rywin, who allegedly demanded a bribe from Michnik in return for ensuring the passage of media legislation that would benefit the newspaper, were credible proof. Miller assured the commission that he did not send Rywin to try to bribe anyone.

In the second of his two meetings with the commission, the prime minister was "tortured" in a seven-hour marathon of questioning by just one deputy, Zbigniew Ziobro of the opposition PiS party. Ziobro used the opportunity to attack Miller politically and asked about matters unrelated to the Rywingate affair, hoping to cast the prime minister in an unfavorable light. Though Miller tried to keep his cool, he eventually lost his patience and called his interrogator a "zero."

Now Miller supposedly has no time until the end of June to return to the commission, where seven of the 10 deputies on the investigating commission are waiting to question him. Some of them, such as PO member Jan Rokita, tried to blame Tomasz Nałęcz, the head of the commission, for the delay since Nałęcz optimistically believed the questioning could be completed in only two days and because he allowed Ziobro take so much time.

But Miller could find some free time earlier than expected. Rumors abound that he will be forced from his office since many members of his SLD party know that he won't likely be reelected next spring, especially with his current popularity rate making him the most unpopular prime minister since the end of communism. But they'll probably let Miller stay until the European Union referendum on June 8-9.