The Committee for Constitutional Accountability (ODK) heard the first witnesses on Wednesday – employees of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego – as part of the procedure of the preliminary application to the State Tribunal for the President of the National Bank of Poland – the questions concerned the purchase of bonds by the NBP – said committee member Tomasz Trela from the Left. The next committee meeting is in two weeks.
– At today's meeting of the Constitutional Accountability Committee, the first witnesses were heard. This was the lower level of management of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. Five witnesses were called, four people appeared and one person sent sick leave. The questions and answers were rather technical, because today we were dealing with the issue of bond purchases by the NBP – Trela told PAP Biznes.
Next meeting in two weeks
– We did not question decision-makers today, in accordance with the principle adopted by the committee that we start with smaller issues and then larger ones. The next meeting will be held within two weeks. I assume that we will continue to deal with the bond issue, because we have a dozen or so people to question in this regard. We are also waiting for the materials we asked for from the prosecutor's office, because NBP is not willing to cooperate with the commission, he added.
The meetings of the ODK regarding the preliminary application for the TS for the President of the NBP are closed.
Representatives of Law and Justice do not take an active part in the work on the application. PiS MP Paweł Szrot told PAP Biznes on Wednesday that this is related to the August ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, which ruled that the provisions of the act on bringing the president of the NBP before the Court of Justice are unconstitutional. According to Szrot, if he actively participated in the commission's work, he would be breaking the law.
– We were present at the meeting today only to observe and document what is happening at the committee – added Szrot. In mid-September, the ODK established a schedule for work on the preliminary application for the State Tribunal for the President of the NBP, Adam Glapiński. The list of witnesses to be interviewed initially includes over 60 names. For now, there is no point in the schedule regarding the hearing of the President of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, who will be one of the last ones summoned before the committee. After conducting the proceedings, the ODK presents to the Sejm a report on its work together with a request to be brought to justice before the State Tribunal or to discontinue the proceedings.
Adam Glapiński before the TS?
A resolution to bring to justice before the State Tribunal, among others, the President of the National Bank of Poland, the Sejm adopts an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half (230) of the statutory number of deputies.
A resolution of the Sejm on bringing a person to justice before the State Tribunal results in the suspension of the person concerned from his/her duties. Constitutional Tribunal questioned the regulations, among others. on this matter.
The NBP considers the allegations in the request for a TS to be completely groundless and believes that the entire proceedings may paralyze the work of the central bank. In connection with activities in this case, the NBP submitted to the prosecutor's office a notification on the suspicion of committing a crime by the Speaker of the Sejm, Sz. Hołownia and the chairman of ODK, Z. Gawlik.
Main photo source: Radek Pietruszka/PAP