Feature: Scandal and the Polish government
By WOJCIECH KOSC
Special to UPI
WARSAW, Poland, April 2 (UPI) -- Polish news these days is dominated not by the war in Iraq, but the latest cross-fire among government officials over an alleged offer of Polish filmmaker Lew Rywin to bribe politicians on behalf one of Poland's biggest media companies.
The cross fire of questions regarding The Agora Group, which owns Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, comes from a special parliamentary commission formed to probe the scandal that has come to be known as Rywingate.
Since the ruling coalition of post-communist Democratic Left Alliance, known as SLD, and Labor Union form the majority in the commission and are asking questions to people associated with the ruling government, it's more friendly fire than hostile.
The conflict has been brewing since late December, when Gazeta Wyborcza published an article describing how Rywin had approached the daily's editor-in-chief Adam Michnik, a leader in the anti-communist opposition in 1970s and 1980s, with a proposition.
Rywin is one of Poland's best-connected producers to Hollywood, having co-produced Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist" with Roman Polanski. The Polish daily alleged that for $17.5 million, Rywin would influence the ruling SLD to ensure that a new media bill would be favorable to Wyborcza's publisher as well as its parent company Agora.
But that would mean Agora could own both a national daily and a national television station.
Michnik, the editor, taped the conversation with Rywin so there is proof that it took place. But he did not release information about the discussion until five months after it happened.
The plot thickens further as the list of potential casualties from the debacle could even include Prime Minister Leszek Miller.
Michnik said his paper hesitated to reveal the conversation, as he did not want to subvert the government's position right before the key European Union-accession meeting in Copenhagen. Poland's potential entry into the EU remains a highly contentious topic in the government.
But given that the prime minister was aware of the goings-on, Miller, too, has come under heavy criticism, namely for knowing about an attempt at bribery, allegedly on his own behalf, but not ordering the Prosecutor General to launch an investigation. Under Polish law, this omission is itself an offence.
Miller's defense is that he didn't take the situation seriously. The prime minister is to testify before the special parliamentary commission on April 26.
To many Poles, the forming of the commission only blurred the affair as its members question numerous politicians, media specialists and journalists in sessions that often last several days. But the very fact that such a commission exists and its proceedings are public is a new standard in Polish democracy, even if the ruling coalition has a majority in it, quite unlike in the established democracies.
Live coverage of the hearings keeps attracting a huge portion of the viewership -- making the scandal, which has the media in the background even more of a media event.
Still, it is far from being explained and comments on how particular hearings contributed to the clarification of the scandal vary in dependence of political affiliation of the commentators. There is one underlying assumption, though: the Rywingate, as it is known in Poland, has seriously endangered the position of Miller.
Michnik has repeatedly denied that Miller could be in any way linked to the scandal. Miller is "neither corrupt, nor stupid," Michnik said. Given other problems Miller has had recently, his testimony next week may be crucial not only to the clarification of the Rywingate, but also to his own political career. Link
By WOJCIECH KOSC
Special to UPI
WARSAW, Poland, April 2 (UPI) -- Polish news these days is dominated not by the war in Iraq, but the latest cross-fire among government officials over an alleged offer of Polish filmmaker Lew Rywin to bribe politicians on behalf one of Poland's biggest media companies.
The cross fire of questions regarding The Agora Group, which owns Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, comes from a special parliamentary commission formed to probe the scandal that has come to be known as Rywingate.
Since the ruling coalition of post-communist Democratic Left Alliance, known as SLD, and Labor Union form the majority in the commission and are asking questions to people associated with the ruling government, it's more friendly fire than hostile.
The conflict has been brewing since late December, when Gazeta Wyborcza published an article describing how Rywin had approached the daily's editor-in-chief Adam Michnik, a leader in the anti-communist opposition in 1970s and 1980s, with a proposition.
Rywin is one of Poland's best-connected producers to Hollywood, having co-produced Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "The Pianist" with Roman Polanski. The Polish daily alleged that for $17.5 million, Rywin would influence the ruling SLD to ensure that a new media bill would be favorable to Wyborcza's publisher as well as its parent company Agora.
But that would mean Agora could own both a national daily and a national television station.
Michnik, the editor, taped the conversation with Rywin so there is proof that it took place. But he did not release information about the discussion until five months after it happened.
The plot thickens further as the list of potential casualties from the debacle could even include Prime Minister Leszek Miller.
Michnik said his paper hesitated to reveal the conversation, as he did not want to subvert the government's position right before the key European Union-accession meeting in Copenhagen. Poland's potential entry into the EU remains a highly contentious topic in the government.
But given that the prime minister was aware of the goings-on, Miller, too, has come under heavy criticism, namely for knowing about an attempt at bribery, allegedly on his own behalf, but not ordering the Prosecutor General to launch an investigation. Under Polish law, this omission is itself an offence.
Miller's defense is that he didn't take the situation seriously. The prime minister is to testify before the special parliamentary commission on April 26.
To many Poles, the forming of the commission only blurred the affair as its members question numerous politicians, media specialists and journalists in sessions that often last several days. But the very fact that such a commission exists and its proceedings are public is a new standard in Polish democracy, even if the ruling coalition has a majority in it, quite unlike in the established democracies.
Live coverage of the hearings keeps attracting a huge portion of the viewership -- making the scandal, which has the media in the background even more of a media event.
Still, it is far from being explained and comments on how particular hearings contributed to the clarification of the scandal vary in dependence of political affiliation of the commentators. There is one underlying assumption, though: the Rywingate, as it is known in Poland, has seriously endangered the position of Miller.
Michnik has repeatedly denied that Miller could be in any way linked to the scandal. Miller is "neither corrupt, nor stupid," Michnik said. Given other problems Miller has had recently, his testimony next week may be crucial not only to the clarification of the Rywingate, but also to his own political career. Link
posted by BEING HAD at 6:38 AM
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