Transparency push and a broader inquiry into public surveillance
An amendment to the resolution proposing the creation of a commission of inquiry is being tabled. The aim is to investigate operational and reconnaissance activities carried out in recent years. If transparency is the goal, the proposal calls for a commission that looks beyond the last eight years, testing the credibility of the governing coalition in power and its supporters in the Sejm.
Debates yesterday considered draft resolutions that would establish investigative committees of inquiry into Pegasus software use, envelope elections, and the so-called visa scandal. The proposals have been forwarded to the Legislative Commission for further work.
Credibility test
The Sejm discussed a draft resolution to establish an investigative committee that would examine the legality, regularity, and purpose of operational and reconnaissance activities. The focus includes the use of Pegasus by members of the Council of Ministers, the security services, the police, and tax and customs authorities during the period from November 16, 2015 to November 20, 2023.
Representatives from the United Right argued that this time span should be expanded, a point they highlighted at a recent press conference.
The proposal would modify the scope of the inquiry to cover not only the recent period but also the years when the current governing bloc was not in office, urging scrutiny of earlier governments as well.
– PiS spokesperson Rafał Bochenek spoke to reporters, noting that the Civic Platform previously pressed for a time limit. He said the original draft restricted examination to November 16, 2015, to January 20, 2023, and argued for extending that window to include earlier periods when the PO and PSL were in power.
Bochenek added that the move would serve as a test of the PO’s credibility, revealing whether the issue would remain a political dispute or be examined in depth with concrete explanations of problems and facts.
To ensure full transparency, the proposed commission would not only cover the most recent years but also extend to the era before the United Right held government in Poland, when the PO and PSL were in power.
– emphasized PiS MP Michał Wójcik.
Journalists and surveillance
Wójcik pointed to two critical threads. The first concerns journalists and the allegations of years of surveillance involving more than fifty individuals. The question remains who authorized such inspections, whether records were gathered, and what data was collected. The committee would need to scrutinize the timeframe when PO and PSL governed to understand any political or procedural dynamics at play.
The second thread involves a system that reportedly should have been acquired by the Central Bureau of Investigation during the PO-PSL era. This topic had surfaced in the media years ago but did not receive sustained coverage, which raises questions about access to tools that could monitor communications and surroundings, as well as potential implications for political discourse and accountability.
- Bochenek underscored the need for openness and accountability.
As the United Right and PiS camp leaders insist, there is nothing to hide. They advocate for a substantive, evidence-based conversation that lets the public compare how events unfolded under the current administration with how they appeared during the PO government.
– added Bochenek.
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Mom and Dad
Note: this text consolidates parliamentary statements and position papers as presented in ongoing discussions and does not reflect any final parliamentary decision. (Citation: wPolityce)