[ad_1]
The 65-year-old bureaucrat hit the rulers two weeks ago when he presented a report criticizing the government’s decision to print ballots for the postal elections, even though the latter had not yet been approved by the Seimas.
The government, it is true, does not use. The government-controlled Anti-Corruption Police Service (CBA) is investigating the origin of Bananas ‘personal property, which allegedly used the building as a guest house, and in early May, CBA agents searched the home of Bananas’ son. son of NIK.
Don’t play by the rules
Banas calls the allegations a “smear campaign” aimed at getting rid of him. The official does not hide the fact that he and his family have been spying on some 50 anti-corruption agents for more than two years.
“It reminds me of Bolshevik methods,” said Ban, who had been involved in anti-communist activities until the end of the Cold War and was jailed in the early 1980s for collaborating with the Solidarity union.
The fact that the government now views the head of NIK as an enemy is in fact surprising both to Bananas himself and to PiS, who nominated the officer for a six-year term in 2019.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Matthew Morawieckis
Banas has long been associated with the nationalist and more conservative wings of this party, and the PiS ranks have trusted him. This official already held senior positions in 2005-2007, when PiS briefly formed a government.
After the transformation of the courts, regulators, and state media, the PiS was pushed into various institutions by loyal leaders.
Banas has returned to serve in the government of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki; he worked as Minister of Finance. But he soon moved to NIK, one of the most powerful institutions in Poland, which has to check how the state spends the funds.
It is true that PiS, according to many independent experts and, of course, the opposition, has already managed to dismantle the system of checks and balances that is important to democracies. After the transformation of the courts, regulators, and state media, the party pushed loyal leaders into the various institutions.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his team almost certainly regarded Bananas as one of those soldiers. The problem is that the latter refuses to play by the PiS rules and competes in his own way. But not necessarily clean either.
Trying to intimidate?
As soon as Bananas was appointed director of NIK, the Polish media reported that the building he managed in Krakow was being used as a guest house and was run by a person associated with the underworld. After the investigation began, Banas went on leave without pay.
At the same time, anti-corruption officials revealed that the Finance Ministry is running a tax fraud scheme. It turned out that one of the defendants was a close associate of M. Bananas at the time he was serving as Minister of Finance.
Such scandals damaged the PiS ahead of the 2019 parliamentary elections, so it is not surprising that the party tried to remove Bananas. He was even lobbied by the head of PiS, J. Kaczynskis, and the party even considered changing the rules, as the Constitution still provides for a six-year term for the head of NIK.
“Scanpix” nuotr./Jaroslawas Kaczynskis
But Ban, who is called the “armored Mariano” in the country, supposedly breaking through any obstacles, only dug deeper into the trenches and refused to leave.
“When I was chosen to direct NIK, I immediately felt uncomfortable. They marked me as dangerous. “No legal action has been taken against me, which is the best proof that I am innocent and that all this noise is a twisted public relations ploy to destroy me,” Banas said.
His predecessor, former Polish Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, also says he is surprised that after nearly three years of investigation, the case is still under investigation, although Banas has not been charged.
Ban: I am innocent and all this noise is a twisted PR stunt meant to destroy me.
“There is no solution on the horizon. I have the impression that there is an attempt to influence the head of NIK,” Kwiatkowski said, and CBA representatives continue to speak of “preparatory procedures.”
The opposition talks about gang warfare
In early May, tensions escalated further when CBA agents carried out a second search at the home of Bananas’ son Jakub. The NIK chief immediately called the raid a revenge for delving into the circumstances of last year’s presidential election.
The government then tried to hold elections in May, even though a coronavirus pandemic swept through the country. When it turned out that it would be too dangerous to vote “live”, it was decided to vote by mail only.
„Scanpix“ nuotr./Andrzejus Duda
Millions of zlotys were spent on special ballots, although no law was passed in the Seimas allowing them to vote this way by mail. Finally, the election was postponed to July and no one used the postal ballots.
In other words, the money for special ballots was spent without permission. And no one took responsibility for taxpayers’ money, although last year a Warsaw court ruled that Morawieckis had “seriously violated the law” by ordering elections to be held by mail only, though they had not yet been approved by the Parlament.
NIK has now stepped in. A report published in early May states that the loss of PLN (17 million euros) was attributed to senior government officials, and Banas said: “It was not appropriate to hold elections and prepare for them on the basis of an administrative decision.”
A PiS spokesperson, Radoslaw Fogiel, called on Bananas to “weigh the rhetoric,” while another called it the “simple lie” of the NIK chief.
The Interior Ministry, which oversaw the CBA, immediately denied any “political reason” for the ban on the Bananas house. The search was conducted the day after the initial version of the NIK report was leaked.
“It’s an incredible coincidence, isn’t it? My family is under pressure to resign. In my opinion, the CBA has long since ceased to be an institution that catches corrupt employees; the institution is organizing more and more demo files, the results of which are unclear, “said M. Bananas.
The words are really bold, so it comes as no surprise that a PiS spokesperson, Radoslaw Fogiel, asked Bananas to “weigh the rhetoric”, while others called the NIK boss’s statements “simply untrue.”
Opposition politicians, it is true, call these sparks changes in the ruling field. Cezary Tomczyk, one of the leaders of the Plataforma Ciudadana coalition, talks about “gang warfare” and “activities of the mafia state.”
The most interesting – before the eyes.
But Ban promises to continue the show. NIK is now targeting the Polish National Fund, a body generously funded by state-owned companies tasked with promoting the country’s image abroad. The fund is accused of wasting funds on costly, politicized and ineffective campaigns.
When the foundation refused to provide NIK with the necessary documents in April and explained that it was a private body, the service immediately turned to prosecutors, who said they were obstructing justice. Banas added: “Such explanations cannot prevent us from working.”
“Reuters” / “Scanpix” nuotr./Mateuszas Morawieckis
And K. Kwiatkowski stated that the refusal of the foundation’s representatives to communicate with the auditors is “completely unacceptable” and can become a dangerous precedent.
Finally, NIK is also analyzing how the government has dealt with the blows of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy. For example, explain how the state spent more than $ 150 million. zlotys to help businesses and the economy in general.
The auditors will also review the government’s National Post-Pandemic Recovery Plan, which is funded by the EU Recovery Fund.
“It seems that the most interesting thing is before our eyes,” Kwiatkowski said, recalling that NIK is also clarifying the allocation of funds for a coal-fired power plant. And Ban warned: “I’m not going anywhere. I haven’t said the last word yet. “
[ad_2]
