President calls for restraint with hand gestures in the wake of Iwinski affair

"I advise all officials to avoid making gestures that may be badly interpreted, even if they are a result of spontaneous behavior," said President Aleksander Kwasniewski yesterday, commenting on the affair of Tadeusz Iwinski, Secretary of State at the Prime Minister's office. Kwasniewski went on, "Such a rule is obligatory for all my co-workers and I believe that from now on it will be an iron rule, obligatory not only for politicians but for all those engaged in public or social activity." The president was speaking in response to the events of Friday when, during the European Union (EU) summit in Barcelona, TVN cameras caught Iwinski embracing and touching the buttocks of a female interpreter from the Polish delegation. Meanwhile Iwinski, speaking in an interview with radio station RMF FM, expressed surprise that anyone could find anything indecent in his behavior. However, plenipotentiary of the Polish government for the equal rights of men and women, Izabela Juraga- Nowacka, took a very dim view of Iwinski's actions. She has asked Prime Minister Leszek Miller to explain Iwinski's behavior during the summit. And in an interview with Zycie she said that Iwinski could face serious charges, including sexual harassment. (Zycie, p. 5; Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) P.W.