A draft act on the liquidation of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) is ready, and its processing will begin on Friday, Tomasz Siemoniak, the Coordinator of Security Services in Poland, has said.
Established in 2006, the CBA, according to its website, “combats corruption in public and economic life, particularly in public and local government institutions.”
Speaking in January, Siemoniak said that the image of the CBA within the public was not good. “I know that there are honest people in this service, but it cannot be that one of the services in Poland is associated only with problems, scandals, quarrels, and strange activities.”
In turn, Marek Pęk, senator of the Law and Justice (PiS - the largest opposition party in Poland at the moment), criticized back in 2023 the idea of the CBA’s liquidation, calling the body an “important and critical state institution.”
'Disastrous influence'
“The act is ready; today we are starting the whole procedure,” Siemoniak said on Friday morning during his interview with private broadcaster TVN24.
“There are issues that show the disastrous political influence on the services,” he added, blaming the previous government.
Siemoniak pointed out that he expected the legislation to go before the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, before the summer holidays.
On November 10, 2023, the leaders of the ruling coalition parties initiated an agreement to liquidate the CBA, with its resources and competencies being transferred to other services.
According to research conducted by the Warsaw-based Batory Foundation in late 2023, the Bureau’s operations cost the state about PLN 211 million (EUR 49 million) a year. Meanwhile, in 2015, the body’s budget was about PLN 113 million (EUR 26 million).
Speaking in January, Siemoniak said that the image of the CBA within the public was not good. “I know that there are honest people in this service, but it cannot be that one of the services in Poland is associated only with problems, scandals, quarrels, and strange activities.”
In turn, Marek Pęk, senator of the Law and Justice (PiS - the largest opposition party in Poland at the moment), criticized back in 2023 the idea of the CBA’s liquidation, calling the body an “important and critical state institution.”
'Disastrous influence'
“The act is ready; today we are starting the whole procedure,” Siemoniak said on Friday morning during his interview with private broadcaster TVN24.
“There are issues that show the disastrous political influence on the services,” he added, blaming the previous government.
Siemoniak pointed out that he expected the legislation to go before the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, before the summer holidays.
On November 10, 2023, the leaders of the ruling coalition parties initiated an agreement to liquidate the CBA, with its resources and competencies being transferred to other services.
According to research conducted by the Warsaw-based Batory Foundation in late 2023, the Bureau’s operations cost the state about PLN 211 million (EUR 49 million) a year. Meanwhile, in 2015, the body’s budget was about PLN 113 million (EUR 26 million).
Source: PAP, TVN24, WP
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