Prime Minister has no legal basis to sack head of KNUiFE

Prime Minister Leszek Miller has formally requested Jan Monkiewicz, the chairman of the Insurance and Pension Fund Supervisory Commission (KNUiFE), which was formed on April 1, to resign. Miller said that Monkiewicz "has abused the confidence of the government". When applying for the position, Monkiewicz did not inform Economy Minister Marek Belka about the investigation by the prosecutor regarding Monkiewicz's former presidency in the State Insurance Company (PZU). The prosecution has accused Monkiewicz of mismanagement and acting against the interest of PZU. Belka said on Radio Zet that actually dismissing Monkiewicz is very difficult, as there is no legal basis to do this. Belka went on, "Right now the decision is up to professor Monkiewicz. I still regard him as an excellent candidate for the post. If I had known about the accusations, I would not have appointed him" . The law on KNUiFE clearly defines the terms under which the chairman can be dismissed before his term of office expires, but proceedings by prosecutor is not one of them. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 21; Puls Biznesu, p. 8), M.T.