The numbers game
It is too early to predict whether the Sejm investigatory commission's proceedings will be the equivalent of the Di Pietro investigations in Italy or yet another step on the way to discrediting the political process and increasing the ratings of radical anti-system parties such as Samoobrona and the LPR. It is a pity that parliament has not reacted to the cancer of corruption much earlier. Scandals, such as FOZZ and PZU, and the deaths of General Papała and Jacek Dębski were largely ignored. It took Adam Michnik's tapes and the allegations of links to the prime minister to get the members of the Sejm to sit up and take notice.
One good thing will definitely come of the whole business. Maybe in future anyone who wants to indulge in corruption will think twice. The thought of facing Polish public prosecutors may not be much of a deterrent. They are not even capable of identifying correctly a suspect's telephone number. However, the thought of having to endure hours of repeated questions from a row of politicians may seem an infinitely worse prospect than doing time.
As a result of the commission deliberating during office hours, the largest social group following the proceedings live on TV are pensioners. They have a lot of free time on their hands and have taken to watching the commission in action as a welcome alternative to Brazilian or Venezuelan soap operas. As the course of the investigation drags on, some may become anxious as to whether they will live long enough to see the end of the proceedings, let alone a judgment.
Live TV coverage is certainly adding many hours to the length of the commission's proceedings. Members of parliament will not pass up any opportunity to appear live on television. The editor of Gazeta Wyborcza was also very keen to use free airtime to articulate his beliefs and promote his newspaper.
Michnik's testimony, powerful though it was, has not shed much new light on the Rywin affair. The only real development has been the way he has pointed the accusing finger firmly at TV chief Robert Kwiatkowski. He has also upheld his conviction that the prime minister knew nothing about the whole affair until he - Michnik - informed him about what was going on.
A clue to the strength of that conviction lies in statements made by two very influential women. The first was Wanda Rapaczynski who testified that for the prime minister to be involved in such a scandal would be "the end of the world." The second came in an article by Henryka Bochniarz who argued that "there is no alternative to this government." Not much point in bringing down the government when you have nothing to replace it with.
The Rzeczpospolita billings story (probably inspired by the security services) has been used to reinforce Michnik's line. Turning the spotlight away from the demand to see the prime minister's billings and visitors book looks like an attempt to deflect the scope of the investigations. But the questions on why the prime minister took no action against Lew Rywin after Michnik gave him the tape will not go away.
Kwiatkowski is not going to roll over and die. He has declined the commission's invitation to take a long holiday and has used all the influence he has worked for so long to establish to ensure that both the National Radio and Television Council and Polish TV's Supervisory Council did not go along with the advice given by the investigative commission. He understood only too well that any suspension would be taken as an admission of guilt. Nevertheless, his days seem numbered. The SLD will more easily shed a TV chief it can quickly replace than the prime minister.
Should Jan Maria Rokita ever give up politics, the job of public prosecutor is there waiting for him. He is, by far, the most perceptive questioner of the 20 members of the commission. Since he has been so effective and high profile, his political career seems reborn anyway. Whenever one turns on the TV, he is there. When you turn to the radio, there he is again. One is afraid to open the fridge just in case his balding head should appear.
As in all good soap operas there has been some farce and a hint of danger. The danger surfaced when Rapaczynski from Agora reported a death threat. The farce came in the shape of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) announcing to the whole of Poland that information on the prime minister's billings was a matter of national security and could not be released to the commission for fear of them falling into the hands of terrorists.
The spectacle is beginning to suffer a little from oversell. We have had to endure the inevitable hours of moralising about the importance of the fact that this commission is actually in place. If corruption could be removed by forceful rhetoric, Poland would now have levels of propriety in public life similar to those in Scandinavia. Still, at least a start has belatedly been made at cleansing the Augean stables.
One good thing will definitely come of the whole business. Maybe in future anyone who wants to indulge in corruption will think twice. The thought of facing Polish public prosecutors may not be much of a deterrent. They are not even capable of identifying correctly a suspect's telephone number. However, the thought of having to endure hours of repeated questions from a row of politicians may seem an infinitely worse prospect than doing time.
As a result of the commission deliberating during office hours, the largest social group following the proceedings live on TV are pensioners. They have a lot of free time on their hands and have taken to watching the commission in action as a welcome alternative to Brazilian or Venezuelan soap operas. As the course of the investigation drags on, some may become anxious as to whether they will live long enough to see the end of the proceedings, let alone a judgment.
Live TV coverage is certainly adding many hours to the length of the commission's proceedings. Members of parliament will not pass up any opportunity to appear live on television. The editor of Gazeta Wyborcza was also very keen to use free airtime to articulate his beliefs and promote his newspaper.
Michnik's testimony, powerful though it was, has not shed much new light on the Rywin affair. The only real development has been the way he has pointed the accusing finger firmly at TV chief Robert Kwiatkowski. He has also upheld his conviction that the prime minister knew nothing about the whole affair until he - Michnik - informed him about what was going on.
A clue to the strength of that conviction lies in statements made by two very influential women. The first was Wanda Rapaczynski who testified that for the prime minister to be involved in such a scandal would be "the end of the world." The second came in an article by Henryka Bochniarz who argued that "there is no alternative to this government." Not much point in bringing down the government when you have nothing to replace it with.
The Rzeczpospolita billings story (probably inspired by the security services) has been used to reinforce Michnik's line. Turning the spotlight away from the demand to see the prime minister's billings and visitors book looks like an attempt to deflect the scope of the investigations. But the questions on why the prime minister took no action against Lew Rywin after Michnik gave him the tape will not go away.
Kwiatkowski is not going to roll over and die. He has declined the commission's invitation to take a long holiday and has used all the influence he has worked for so long to establish to ensure that both the National Radio and Television Council and Polish TV's Supervisory Council did not go along with the advice given by the investigative commission. He understood only too well that any suspension would be taken as an admission of guilt. Nevertheless, his days seem numbered. The SLD will more easily shed a TV chief it can quickly replace than the prime minister.
Should Jan Maria Rokita ever give up politics, the job of public prosecutor is there waiting for him. He is, by far, the most perceptive questioner of the 20 members of the commission. Since he has been so effective and high profile, his political career seems reborn anyway. Whenever one turns on the TV, he is there. When you turn to the radio, there he is again. One is afraid to open the fridge just in case his balding head should appear.
As in all good soap operas there has been some farce and a hint of danger. The danger surfaced when Rapaczynski from Agora reported a death threat. The farce came in the shape of the Internal Security Agency (ABW) announcing to the whole of Poland that information on the prime minister's billings was a matter of national security and could not be released to the commission for fear of them falling into the hands of terrorists.
The spectacle is beginning to suffer a little from oversell. We have had to endure the inevitable hours of moralising about the importance of the fact that this commission is actually in place. If corruption could be removed by forceful rhetoric, Poland would now have levels of propriety in public life similar to those in Scandinavia. Still, at least a start has belatedly been made at cleansing the Augean stables.
