The myth of the loveable rogue
Q: What do Belarus, El Salvador and Malawi all have in common?
A: They're on par with Poland in Transparency International's (TI) world corruption league.
What's worse is that Poland has dropped to the same level as Belarus during the past couple of years and is now below Morocco, Jordan and Peru on TI's corruption index.
None of this will come as any surprise to the average Pole who generally views governments with the same degree of distaste as a bulldog would chewing a wasp.
Nevertheless, last week's spectacular arrest in the lobby of Warsaw's Hotel Marriot of Grzegorz Wieczerzak, former head of Poland's leading life insurer PZU Zycie, must raise questions over the continuing credibility of the country's business and political elite.
On the eve of European Union (EU)accession there have to be serious doubts about their ability to properly take the nation forward as a member of the European club. Indeed, during the past few months a plethora of public figures have toppled like third-rate nags at the British Grand National horse racing event.
And it's not just the very public figures in Warsaw who are at it. Outside the capital, lesser members of Poland's ruling elite seem to be hell-bent on copying their big-city brethren. Last month, for instance, the former president and vice president of Lodz City Council were arrested for accepting bribes over a dodgy land deal; the deputy head of the Katowice bureau of the State Security Office (UOP) was arrested for conspiring with criminals; and even students in Lodz, Bialystok and Lublin were caught buying medical school entrance exams.
The list strikes at the very heart of Poland. From reports of student drivers buying licenses before passing their tests to Defense Ministry corruption involving tenders for military aircraft, the cancer is apparent at every level of civil and political life in the country.
For business, the latest scandal involving Wieczerzak will raise questions over PZU's credibility, especially with the company due to float a 50% stake in its initial public offering later this year. It also coincides with accusations directed at the Communications Ministry over corruption in the tender for UMTS licenses.
But the question has to be, what price will investors pay to a greedy minister who holds the key to privatizing the nation's assets? Most major foreign players last week agreed that Poland is still an attractive emerging market for business, although its image is becoming increasingly tarnished. Unfortunately, as Poland moves into its final phase of EU membership talks, the country should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the continent's elite, but instead looks more like a troubled wino at a garden party.
Simply put, top-level corruption must stop before the nation loses its self respect and foreign investors lose interest. After all, corruption is universally viewed as the common denominator of rogue states.
