Poland's Former Central Bank Chief Blamed For Coalition Failure
Classified Polnews
Within days after his term expired and he was replaced as President of the National Bank of Poland, Leszek Balcerowicz has been blamed a second time for the failure of coalition talks between the political parties Law and Justice and Civic Platform.
Poland
In a blog entry that mystified commentators, Former Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who was unable to form a coalition between his party and the Civic Platform, blamed Balcerowicz for the failure. See Marcinkiewicz Blames Balcerowicz
Now, Marek Kuchcinski, spokesman for the Law and Justice party has followed up with his own criticism of Balcerowicz and also blames him for the failure of the coalition talks.
When Marcinkiewicz made his comments, some wondered if he was laying the groundwork for a campaign to show that there is precedent for allowing the President of the National Bank to engage in politics. See Marcinkiewicz Blames Balcerowicz But because only he had made comment and because he is outside the normal political circles, such groundwork was discounted.
But now that Kuchinski has stepped up and laid blame on Balcerowicz, it appears to some that something is afoot.
Since the failure of the coalition talks the Law and Justice party has consistently blamed the failure to form a coalition on Civic Platform. Now, out of the clear blue, high level members of the Law And Justice party are blaming Balcerowicz personally.
Balcerowicz's replacement as President of the National Bank of Poland, Slawomir Skrzypek is considered a political ally of President Lech Kaczynski. Many worry that he will do Kaczynski's bidding. And if he does, he, and the Law And Justice Party as well, will suffer a lot of criticism.
By setting the precedent that Balcerowicz was engaged in politics, they will have a tool that they can use to blunt the attacks that are sure to be made against them by the Civic Platform.
It is not so much the attacks on Balcerowicz that should be of concern, but the reason behind them should be. If there are further attacks, one might start looking for signs of politicization of the operations of the National Bank Of Poland.
