Presidential provocations
Long gone are the days when the Kaczyński brothers ran Lech Wałęsa's presidential campaign and, later, his Presidential Chancellery. The former allies haven't been on the best of terms in years, but the publication of the Military Intelligence Services (WSI) report has led to an open war of words between the former President and the current head of state.
In the WSI report Wałęsa and another ex-President, Aleksander Kwaniewski, were said to be responsible for not reforming the WSI and thus allowing for it to become a state within a state. Wałęsa dismissed the charge, claiming that it's becoming more and more difficult to take the Kaczyńskis seriously. He then said that they are "suffering from stupidity" and referred to President Kaczyński as "this idiot." Wałęsa also threatened to take both the President and the Prime Minister to court for bringing out the WSI report, which he claims slanders him.
In response, two Law and Justice (PiS) members informed the State Prosecution Office that Wałęsa had defamed the President's character. Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro promised that the State Prosecutor would deal with this case. Minister of Defense Aleksander Szczygło led the ruling party's counter-attack, claiming that Wałęsa is responsible for the defeated hopes of millions of Poles in the beginning of the 1990s.
Wałęsa didn't apologize to Kaczyński directly, but asked the Poles' pardon for his disparaging comment. However, he also referred to Minister Szczygło contemptuously as a "boy" and a "whipper-snapper." President Kaczyński apparently showed no interest in continuing the war of words. "I am not going to lower myself to Lech Wałęsa's level," the President said. The case is likely to continue in court.
