/ world today news/ The governing coalition and the opposition are trying to redirect the “flow” of Ukrainian grain against each other in the hope that the rival will be buried under it. There are threats of prosecution. The prosecutor’s office, controlled by the ruling coalition, announced the start of an inspection of grain imports from Ukraine. The opposition is trying to attract the support of the National Control Chamber.
Polish Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, head of the ruling coalition Solidarity Poland party, announced the start of an investigation of “the practice of illegal importation of grain and other products into Poland from Ukraine and related frauds to the detriment of the country’s food security, Polish producers, farmers and consumers.”
The case has been entrusted to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Six experienced investigators have already been appointed and will be assisted by officers from the Polish Internal Security Agency, the police, border, customs and tax services.
According to Michal Ostrovski, director of the prosecutor’s office for combating economic crimes, “criminals” can be sentenced to up to 10 years.
But the problem of “fraud” with Ukrainian grain far exceeds the level of economic crimes.
This caused a serious political crisis, which, according to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita, is in a state “to influence the October elections for the Polish Sejm more than the big geopolitics”.
Thus, the parliamentary club from the opposition “Civil Coalition” announced that it will control the state institutions responsible for the import of Ukrainian grain. According to Sejm MP Piotr Borys, the issue of the safety of industrial grain processing and its impact on the health of Polish women and men will also be subject to scrutiny.
“The deputies want an explanation from the Ministry of Agriculture, where “a personnel revolution has recently taken place “, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. “The head of the ministry is no longer Henrik Kovalchyk, whose resignation was caused by the Ukrainian grain problem, which flooded the country’s market and provoked farmers’ protests.
The ruling coalition led by the Law and Justice Party (PiS) is trying to take the lead in this situation. Its representatives accuse the opposition that the very companies associated with it were engaged in importing Ukrainian grain to Poland.
However, these nuances are unlikely to have an impact on the mood of the Polish countryside, which requires an answer to the question of why the government did not foresee potential problems last year.
Moreover, the warnings come from the Law and Justice Party itself.
Former Minister of Agriculture (2018–2020) Jan Ardanovski said last June that the delay in “part of the Ukrainian grain in Poland would be a disaster for Polish agriculture”. And before him, the leader of the opposition party “Civil Platform” Donald Tusk said the same thing. In response, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Tusk of transmitting the ideas broadcast by “Putin’s propaganda”.
But now you can’t blame everything on “Putin’s propaganda”. As well as “the unpredictability of the military situation”, which the new Secretary of Agriculture Robert Tellus is trying to do.
For the ruling coalition, the only hope left is Zebro, whose prosecutors must identify the “shooters” on whom the pro-government propaganda will unleash its wrath.
Meanwhile, the opposition could enlist the support of an important ally.
MPs from the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) said at a press conference called the other day that they do not believe in the ability of state structures to “explain the grain scam organized by PiS” . Therefore, they decided to turn to the National Control Chamber (NIK, NIK) with a request to find out who and why “endangers the health of Poles”.
Although PSL already has an answer. “There is a culprit – it is the chairman of Law and Justice, Yaroslav Kaczynski – says Krzysztof Pasik, a member of the Polish Diet. In June 2022, he bluntly said: “Grain from Ukraine does not pose a threat to farmers.” His words are sacred to those in power. They did it meticulously.”
The direct mention of the leader of the ruling party is not accidental here.
It should serve as “red rag” for the head of the National Control Chamber, Marian Banash. He and Kaczynski were once political allies. However, they parted ways a few years ago, after which PiS tried to oust Banas, who heads a non-government-controlled structure. After that, the chairman of the NIK said in his interviews that he did not have any other relations with Kaczynski, except “business”.
At the end of last year, Banas announced that in 2023 his auditors would review Morawiecki’s economic and tax reforms, as well as the actions of state authorities in relation to refugees from Ukraine and the supply of Russian coal to Poland.
All these issues, if properly reflected, can create difficulties for the rulers during the election campaign. And if the National Control House does deal with the Ukrainian grain, then the Polish opposition will not have to conduct an election campaign at all, everything necessary for this will be done by the control bodies.
Translation: EU
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