WARSAW, Poland – Aides to Polish President Andrzej Duda said Saturday that their experts have begun analyzing a highly controversial law on Russia’s alleged influence in Poland ahead of his decision to sign it.
Parliament on Friday approved legislation proposed by the ruling right-wing party, which is seen as targeting the opposition. This could affect the outcome of the fall parliamentary elections in which the ruling Law and Justice party is seeking a third term.
The law would establish a state commission to investigate Russian influence in Poland and on national security. It is generally seen as targeting former prime minister Donald Tusk, now leader of the main opposition Citizens’ Alliance, at a time when early campaigning for the elections is underway.
The law cannot take effect without Duda’s approval within 21 days. This caused an outcry, and the left-wing opposition urged Duda to reject it, calling it “shameful” and saying it could lead to a widespread witch hunt. Many independent experts say it violates the constitution.
An aide to Duda, Lukasz Rzepecki, said that “preliminary analyzes have begun.”
“We will consider the bill very carefully and we will analyze it from a legal point of view, but also in relation to the current political situation,” said Rzepecki.
Polish lawmakers vote in parliament on May 26, 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. (AP Photo/Zarek Sokolovsky)
He was apparently referring to the war that neighboring Ukraine is waging against Russia, which has long been seen as a threat to security in the region. Warsaw’s military and political support for Kiev has drawn angry reactions from Moscow.
Rzepecki said that Duda’s team was aware of “a lot of negative sentiment” surrounding the bill.
However, another colleague, Pavel Szarot, said that Duda believes that “the more transparency there is in public life, the more clarifications are given on controversial matters, the better.”
Poland’s most powerful politician, ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said he would not influence Duda’s decision, but he “quietly hoped” she would sign the bill.
Duda can either sign the bill, veto it or send it to the Constitutional Tribunal to review whether it is in line with Poland’s supreme law, the Constitution.
Duda won the 2015 presidential election as the candidate for Law and Justice, and his decisions during his first five-year term were in line with the policies of the ruling party. Recently, however, he has questioned some of the laws proposed by the party and directed some draft bills to the constitutional tribunal or vetoed them, as in the case of the Media Ownership Act of 2021.
FILE: Polish President Andrzej Duda listens through an earpiece to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, August 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko)
The law will establish the “State Commission for the Study of Russian Influences on the Internal Security of the Republic of Poland in the Years 2007-2022”, which will continue even if there is a change of power in the fall.
Critics say the commission of inquiry, with powers to ban people from public office and overturn administrative and business decisions, would violate citizens’ right to face an independent trial and is a clear example of how How law and justice are using the law for their own ends. ending since coming to power in 2015.
They see the bill as an attempt to create a powerful and unconstitutional tool, dubbing it “Lex Tusk”, which will help Law and Justice continue to hold power even as it loses control of Parliament at the elections.
Tusk is to lead a pro-democracy march in Warsaw on 4 June, the anniversary of the partially free parliamentary elections in 1989 that led to the ousting of communism.
