WARSAW: A senior presidential aide said on Monday that Poland’s justice minister had improperly fired state prosecutor Dariusz Barski, creating a new front in the dispute between the president and the new administration. The burden of undoing the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government’s policies, which critics claim increased political control over the judicial system, falls to Justice Minister Adam Bodnar. Reversing the PiS reforms is essential if Poland is to regain access to billions of euros in EU funding that has been blocked due to concerns about the rule of law. “The head of Duda’s office, Marcin Mastalerek, told private broadcaster Radio Zet that the actions of the justice minister are illegal.” Barski, who was reportedly best man at the wedding of former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, was to speak with the president on Monday. “The president says directly that Mr Barski is the state prosecutor and today – it seems that this meeting has started – that is what he will tell the prosecutor,” said Mastalerek. At 1000 GMT, Duda will meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and then release a statement.
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The purpose of the gathering was to discuss foreign policy, even before the current conflict arose. According to the president, Bodnar lacks the power to fire Barski on his own. The ministry of justice contends that Barski’s appointment was void because, according to laws in effect at the time of his appointment, a retired person could not assume the office of state prosecutor. Certain prosecutors claimed that there was excessive political influence on their work while PiS was in power. Opponents of the PiS said that those who followed the party’s wishes suffered consequences in their jobs. According to PiS, the goal of its reforms was to eliminate the inefficiencies and distortions brought about by communist control.
