On Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller commented on the law commonly known as “lex Tusk”. “The US government is concerned about the Russian Influence Investigation Commission Act, which could be used to interfere with free and fair elections in Poland,” he said. He called on the Polish government not to use the new law to block the candidacies of opposition politicians. Earlier, a similar opinion was expressed by the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski.
On Friday, May 26, the Sejm voted against the Senate’s resolution to reject the bill on the establishment of a commission on Russian influence. On Monday, the president announced that he had decided to sign the bill, and that he would refer it to the Constitutional Tribunal in a subsequent procedure. As might be expected, the “lex Tusk” has also provoked reactions at the international level.
The State Department commented on “lex Tusk”
“The U.S. government is concerned about the adoption of new legislation by the Polish government, which may be misused to interfere with free and fair elections in Poland. We share the concerns expressed by many observers that this law, which creates a commission to investigate Russian influence, can be used to block the candidature of opposition politicians without due legal process,” the spokesman for the Ministry of Diplomacy wrote in a statement.
At the same time, he called on the government in Warsaw to ensure that the commission will not be used to restrict choice for voters or “abused in a way that may affect the perceived legitimacy of the election.”
The US ambassador also expressed his opinion
In an interview with TVN24, the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzeziński, also referred to the case.
— The U.S. government shares concerns about laws that may appear to reduce voters’ ability to vote for whom they want to vote, outside of a clearly defined process in an independent court
– he said.
Let us remind you that the decisions that the commission could take include: repealing an administrative decision issued as a result of Russian influence, issuing a ban on performing functions related to the disposal of public funds for up to 10 years and revocation and banning of security clearance for 10 years.
Source: fact.pl
