President-elect says tape affair resignations belated
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.06.2015 13:23
President-elect Andrzej Duda has said resignations within ruling party Civic Platform over a leak of case documents concerning a 2014 wiretapping scandal are overdue.
President-elect Andrzej Duda. Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk
Three ministers resigned on Monday, together with a series of other prominent figures in Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz's Civic Platform party, among them Speaker of Parliament Radosław Sikorski.
“One can only express astonishment that the so-called tape affair is something that has been out in the open in Poland for over a year, yet we only have personnel changes today,” Duda said.
“Unfortunately, this also shows the quality of the politicians in the ruling camp,” he added.
The initial scandal, which broke in the summer of 2014, saw expletive-laden recordings of figures including then Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and then Interior Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz published by the Wprost weekly.
Although Sienkiewicz and Sikorski ceased to be ministers in a September 2014 cabinet reshuffle, both continued to hold prominent positions, while three ministers also implicated in the scandal remained in their posts.
Treasury Minister Włodzimierz Karpiński has now resigned, as has Health Minister Bartosz Arłukowicz and Sports Minister Andrzej Biernat.
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz apologised to the electorate on Wednesday, saying that the whole affair “has a negative effect on the operation of the state.”
Documents from the Attorney General's investigation into the tape affair were published by blogger and businessman Zbigniew Stonoga on Monday. (nh)
Source: TVP