Kwasniewski Dodges The Heat
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski was criticized Tuesday for failing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating privatization fraud.
Kwasniewski had said Monday he would not appear before the commission, which is investigating allegations of bribe taking by officials in the privatization of the oil and petrochemicals firm PKN Orlen.
The commission asked him to reconsider Tuesday, a day during which Kwasniewski faced harsh criticism in the Polish press for ducking out of the investigation.
Kwasniewski said the commission is merely a front for party political mischief-making by right-wing opponents.
Poland is already in the midst of a deep political crisis affecting the government.
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka has said he wants general elections to be brought forward to June from September.
He has also said he may quit his party, the ruling Democratic Left Alliance, and fight the elections as part of a new centrist grouping.