Sejm to reconsider vetoed property bill
In a last-ditch effort to salvage the property restitution law, the Sejm may vote as early as this week whether to overturn President Aleksander Kwasniewski's March veto of the legislation.
Poland's decade-long attempt to introduce comprehensive property restitution legislation hit a dead end two months ago when Kwasniewski refused to sign the bill saying it was too expensive and unfair. To resuscitate the legislative initiative, the Sejm's extraordinary commission two weeks ago called for Parliament to toss out the presidential veto.
However, even the most ardent backers of the legislation said last week they held little hope of mustering the three-fifths majority necessary to override the veto. For the bid to be successful, the initiative would have to earn the backing of parliamentarians grouped in either the leftist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) or the Peasants Party (PSL). Both parties have continuously voiced their opposition to the bill and have maintained party discipline in votes on the issue.
"There is no chance of overturning the veto," said Jan Wyrowinski, a Freedom Union (UW) deputy who sits on the extraordinary commission.
Wyrowinski said that any attempts to introduce legislation on the issue will likely have to wait until after parliamentary elections slated for this autumn.
"Everything is in the hands of the next Parliament," Wyrowinski said.
However, restitution activists said they have given up waiting for a law that would permit them either to get their property back or receive compensation for their losses.
Since the presidential veto, the National Coalition of Revindication Organizations (OPOR) has begun making preparations to file roughly 40,000 cases against the government. OPOR comprises some 250,000 former real estate owners seeking the return of, or compensation for, property lost during World War II or under communist nationalization laws.
"A lot of people have been waiting for a law," said Miroslaw Szypowski, chairman of OPOR. "But the law is not going to be introduced."
Szypowski said OPOR has secured legal services from an undisclosed Polish law firm and is carrying out negotiations with banks and other financial institutions in an effort to get financial backing to cover legal costs. "Court cases cost money," Szypowski said. "We are looking for banks that will credit owners."
In exchange for covering legal expenses, landowners are prepared to sign over part of their property rights to the banks once the courts rule that real estate should be returned.
"Owners are ready to lose up to half of their property," Szypowski said.
Szypowski refused to discuss details regarding negotiations. He also declined to give the names of banks considering backing the court cases. "Banks are interested, but it's a large risk so negotiations are difficult," Szypowski said.
Politicians and restitution activists said last week that individual settlements will cost more than the recently vetoed restitution law. In the case of property owners living in Poland, the treasury has estimated the value of property seized to be roughly zl. 95 billion ($23.7 billion), half of which would be returned under the law vetoed two months ago. The government has warned that the lack of a restitution bill would open the way to court-ordered settlements reaching zl. 270 billion ($67.5 billion).
While exact figures were unavailable by press time, according to Wyrowinski the number of cases filed against the government increased significantly since the veto was announced.
In opting to veto the restitution bill, Kwasniewski voiced concerns that the law would place undue burdens on the national coffers. The president also criticized harsh citizenship requirements included in the final version of the law, which excluded Polish expatriates and Jews living outside the country. Under the law passed by the Sejm, compensation for lost property would be granted only to former property owners registered as Polish citizens as of Dec. 31, 1999.
Szypowski estimates that $400 million-$500 million in property has been returned to former owners who have proved that seizures were made in violation of existing communist nationalization laws.
At the beginning of this year, 3,000 individual restitution claims had been submitted to the Economy Ministry for consideration. Of the approximately 1,500 cases closed in total, the majority of rulings have led to the restitution of property to former owners.
