A majority of the Polish lower house on Friday approved the establishment of a committee to investigate Russian interference in Poland. That write international news agencies. Critics fear the committee will be misused to exclude opposition from the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The upper house in Poland had previously voted against the proposal, but that veto was overturned on Friday by the Polish lower house, also known as the Sejm. According to critics, the committee members are given unconstitutional power, for example because they can prohibit people from holding public or political office for a period of ten years. The committee is composed by the lower house, where the nationalist PiS party has a majority. Their first report is expected in September, just before the parliamentary elections that take place a month later.
The Polish opposition expects this commission to target opposition leader Donald Tusk, prime minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014. He is said to have made gas deals with Russia with his PO party, creating dependence on the Kremlin. According to the current governing party, Tusk and his party may have been under the influence of the Russian government.
The opposition denies these allegations and says it is a political witch hunt. They have renamed the law ‘Lex Tusk’, suggesting that the law is intended to silence the opposition leader. A spokesman for the PiS party has already said that Tusk will be investigated. “If Mr. Donald Tusk has something on his conscience, he should be afraid,” he said. Polish President Andrzej Duda still has to sign the law and can decide to veto it.