Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Speaker of the Sejm and leader of New Left, is trying to downplay his ties with Marian Kubalica, the president of a foundation on whose board he has served continuously since 2008. As we revealed, Kubalica openly supports Vladimir Putin’s regime on social media. Czarzasty claims that the foundation “has never undertaken any activity”, and that he himself has not seen Kubalica for eight years. The problem is that the Speaker of the Sejm is either lying or has just admitted to committing a crime…
Let us recall: Włodzimierz Czarzasty has sat on the board of the Great Blue Foundation since 2008. Its president is Czarzasty’s associate from the “Ordynacka” Association – Marian Kubalica, a figure with pro-Kremlin views who praises the “outstanding” Putin online and spreads Russian propaganda.
Lie No. 1: “The foundation did nothing”
Czarzasty offered a bizarre explanation in the Sejm.
“Unfortunately, apart from registering, this foundation never undertook any activity, any actions,” the Speaker insisted.
This is not true. As we have established, the Great Blue Foundation was not a “dead entity” from the start. In 2009 – when Czarzasty was already serving on its supervisory bodies – the organization ran, among other things, a project called “Little Great Blue.” Moreover, the foundation patronized, for example, the publication of the educational comic book “Young Divers.” The claim that the organization “never undertook any activity” is therefore a plain lie.
Lie No. 2 – or breaking the law
Things become even more interesting when we analyze Czarzasty’s explanations regarding his relationship with the pro-Putin foundation president. The Speaker insists:
“The president of this foundation is Mr. Marian Kubalica, whom I have not seen for eight years.”
At this point, Czarzasty falls into his own trap. Under Polish law, every foundation is required to submit (and publicly disclose) annual activity reports (even if it did not conduct extensive activities in a given year).
We are therefore faced with an alternative, both versions of which are embarrassing for the Speaker:
Either the foundation operated in accordance with the law and submitted reports. That would mean that the supervisory body (the Foundation Council, with Czarzasty on it) had to meet or communicate with the management board (Kubalica). In that case, Czarzasty is lying when he says he has had no contact with Kubalica for years.
Or the Great Blue Foundation did not submit reports. If that is the case, then the foundation for which Czarzasty is partly responsible has been flagrantly violating the foundations law.
MP Śliwka: “The Polish state has failed the test”
“This is an unacceptable situation, because it turns out that a foundation linked to an important politician may not have fulfilled its obligations. That should all the more mean that this foundation ought to be as transparent as Caesar’s wife. And that is what this politician should care about – and if he does not, then of course the question arises as to whether he has something to hide,” comments MP Krzysztof Szczucki, habilitated doctor of legal sciences, in an interview with Niezalezna.pl.
The matter was also addressed in a conversation with our portal by an MP from Law and Justice (PiS), Andrzej Śliwka (also a lawyer). He does not mince words in assessing the stance of the leader of the Left.
“This is yet another example that Speaker Czarzasty has a very non-transparent biography. His ties with people of questionable reputation, with Soviet roots and now with Putin’s Russia, are obvious and we can all see it,” MP Śliwka tells us.
According to the Law and Justice (PiS) politician, Czarzasty’s lack of courage to stand before journalists and explain these complexities (instead of throwing around vague claims about an “inactive foundation”) proves that the Speaker has something on his conscience.
“The fact that Czarzasty does not have the courage to stand before journalists and explain this clearly shows that he must have something on his conscience. It is very good that tomorrow there is a meeting of the National Security Council and that the President will expect clear explanations from Speaker Czarzasty, from the formally second most important person in the state, who should be transparent,” adds Śliwka.
Let us recall that Law and Justice (PiS) is demanding that a closed session of the Sejm be convened and that an explanation be provided as to why Włodzimierz Czarzasty did not complete a security questionnaire, which may have been a deliberate move to conceal uncomfortable acquaintances with people from circles of Russian influence.