On August 30, the Sejm appointed a 9-member Russian influence commission on the internal security of the Republic of Poland in 2007-2022. All of them were proposed by PiS, the opposition did not put forward their nominees and did not take part in the voting.
The following are appointed as committee members:
- Slawomir Cenckiewicz – historian, director of the Military History Bureau, author of the controversial series “Reset”, which was broadcast by TVP
- Lukasz Cigotura – WBH deputy director, Cenckiewicz associate
- Michal Wojnowski – historian dealing with Russian geopolitical thinking and information warfare theory, author of publications in the magazine of the Internal Security Agency
- Joseph Brynkus – historian, professor at the Pedagogical University of Krakow, specializing in issues of historical education, in 2015-19, member of the Sejm (on behalf of Kukiz’15)
- Przemysław Żurawski alias Grajewski – political scientist, publicist, chairman of the Presidential Council on Security and Defense, member of the political cabinet of Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau
- Marek Szymaniac – historian, deputy director of the Second World War Museum in Gdańsk
- Arkadiusz Pulawski – deputy director of the government security department
- Andrew Kowalski – former head of military intelligence (2015-2020)
- Andrzej Zybertowicz – sociologist, publicist, social adviser to the president
Russian Influence Commission. When will he start his work?
Government spokesperson
Piotr Muller in an interview with Radio Poland’s Program I, he was asked whether the commission for Russian influence – under the law, commonly known as “lex Tusk” – would start work before
parliamentary electionsand which is scheduled for October 15.
– Maybe formally yes, but we can probably expect the results of the commission’s activities in at least a few months, when the commission collects the relevant materials and analyzes them – he said. At the same time, he noted that since its appointment, the commission has operated independently and is “competent to make decisions, summon no one, and collect materials”.
“Lex Tusk” and his commission. What does the law contain?
On May 31, the law on the creation of a commission to examine Russia’s influence on the internal security of the Republic of Poland in 2007-2022 came into force, which the president signed a few days earlier, simultaneously announcing that it would be referred to the Constitutional Court. Then – June 2nd –
Andrzej Duda submitted a draft amendment to the law to the Sejm. The Sejm approved it on 16 June. On June 28, the deputies overruled the Senate’s objections to this amendment. The president signed the amendment on July 31. This goes into effect in August.
According to presidential amendments, lawmakers will not be able to sit on commissions to check Russian influence, countermeasures previously included in the law have been removed (including a ban on performing functions related to the disposal of public funds for a longer period). up to 10 years), and the main point of the findings of this commission is the recognition that the person did not guarantee the implementation of appropriate activities in the public interest. An appeal against the commission’s decision will be submitted to the Court of Appeals in Warsaw.
Based on the law, the committee consists of 9 people with the rank of state secretary who are appointed and dismissed by the Sejm. The right to propose to the Marshal of the Sejm no more than 9 candidates for committee members shall be granted to each deputy or parliamentary club within the time limit determined by the marshal.
The law, which in everyday language is known as
“lex Tusk”, and the commission to be set up under these terms, was opposed by the opposition from the start. According to him, the commission would be a constitutionally flawed body, and its main aim would be to fight political opponents and make it harder for them to hold public office if PiS loses power.
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PAP/Karol Kostrzewa
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