Poland’s ruling nationalist coalition wants to guarantee immunity for policymakers who broke or bent the law while fighting the coronavirus pandemic, after several party members came under fire for making questionable decisions.
The coalition wants to update a law on combating the pandemic with an amendment that says anyone who violates their professional duties or breaks the law, but acts in the public interest, hasn’t committed a crime and can’t be prosecuted.
It justifies the new rule by saying that dealing with an unprecedented pandemic often requires unusual actions.
“It’s not about impunity for criminals,” Tadeusz Cymański, an MP with a junior coalition member of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party who is working on the legislative initiative, told the Onet news outlet. He accused the opposition of using “unfair” arguments against the amendment. “We want to prevent decision-making paralysis in these very difficult days … We’re certain there’s the need for such solutions.”
The proposed change comes after the opposition and the media questioned several decisions taken by PiS politicians since the start of the pandemic.
The opposition says the amendment is badly drafted and would make it difficult to bring corrupt officials to justice.
Polish Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski has come under fire for allegedly allowing friends and family to enrich themselves thanks to their ties to him.
In one case, a ski instructor friend helped organize a deal that provided the health ministry with 120,000 face masks and 20,000 surgical masks that were later found not to meet safety standards. According to the opposition-leaning newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, the ministry paid 5 million złoty (€1.1 million) for the masks.
In June, the newspaper also reported that the ministry ordered 1,241 ventilators for 200 million złoty but received only 200 machines, and didn’t get the money back for the rest.
This week, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported that the Polish prosecutor’s office is investigating whether ministry officials are guilty of mismanagement and fraud.
The health minister isn’t the only potential beneficiary of the amendment. The opposition also questions the culpability of Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, who spent almost 70 million złoty printing ballots for a postal presidential election before any enabling legislation was passed; the election was postponed, making the ballots useless.
The new law is meant to be retroactive, shielding those politicians from prosecution.
The opposition says the amendment is badly drafted and would make it difficult to bring corrupt officials to justice.
“This is meddling with the law which is meant to justify their wrongdoing,” Krzysztof Gawkowski, an MP with the left-wing Lewica party, told Gazeta Wyborcza.
The law is now before a parliamentary committee.