Malgorzata Gosiewska: «Poland will raise Belarusian question in Europe all the same»

Malgorzata Gosiewska, Sejm deputy of the Party Law and Justice comments the results of the parliamentary election in Poland to Charter’97 press center. According to the information after 99% of the votes counted, Law and Justice Party has 32.16 % of the votes, yielded the Civil Platform Party.

-- Ms. Gosiewska, how do you comment the parliamentary election results?

- It is a great experience for the Law and Justice Party. Of course, our result has became worse than it was two years ago, in other words, we lost. But we hope we will be a constructive opposition in the new parliament, not one we had when we were the ruling party and that the Civil Platform was for us. We are not going to resist actively the cardinal changes in the polish policy, that Civil Party can offer, but we are going to bring our own bills. And look the support in the Sejm for them to pass.

-- What is the difference between the Civil Platform’s programme and your party’s one?

--It is difficult to explain the difference. In our programme the inner policy takes more place. We understand there are many economical problems in Poland, including unemployment, low salaries. One of other achievements was that we tried to improve the situation and the state of the economy in the country. But the most important point of our programme is the corruption struggle. And the main is to change the attitude of the society to this problem.

In last years the corruption problem was a sharp point in Poland. There was an opinion, even in very small firms, that one needed to give something to a certain official to win a tender. We understood that it is necessary to fight with the corruption on any level. The corruption doesn’t exist without the access to the power, but we had the power. When it happened that our colleagues from the coalition were accused of the corruption scandals, I would remind, that even a minister was blamed in corruption, those people had to retire. But I am not sure the Civil Platform will struggle actively with that evil.

-- How the political situation in Poland will change after the victory of the Civil Platform?

--It difficult to say. Generally speaking, I think, it won’t change seriously. But what concerns the social policy, the Civil Platform defends the interests of the well –to-do. That’s why there is a danger that first of all the poor people will suffer from the Civil Platform’s struggle with the budget deficit. The uncertainty exists whether they continue the struggle with the corruption on the state level. And it is the most important.

-- In the times of the Law and Justice Party’s ruling Belarusian movement “For Freedom” leader Aliaksandr Milinkevich spoke in Polish Sejm and Senat. Your country has actively supported the democratic forces of Belarus. Will Poland’s policy towards Belarus change now?

--What concerns Belarus- Poland relations I think nothing will change in this direction. There are many people who know the Belarusian situation very well, problems with the right of speech and violation of other rights in your country among the representatives of the Civil Platform. That’s why Poland will go on raising Belarusian question in Europe as before and struggle for democracy in your country.

http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2007/10/22/901/