If anyone in the Polish parliament could score a hit as a character in a James Bond film then it is Jozef Oleksy, who was relieved of his post as Speaker last week. The strikingly bald ex-communist functionary presided over the Seym with a gloriously frosty air, and it is hard to imagine that spikes do not emerge from his shoes when the need arises. 'Ernst Blofeld without the charm' is how one wry observer described the Marshal.
However, after a long drawn out court case that has lasted several years, it has emerged that Oleksy lied about his involvement with State Security Services during the Cold War era.
A special Polish court has ruled that Oleksy was a paid informer for Polish Military Intelligence between the years 1970 and 1978, and that he later tried to obscure the fact.
In the wake of democracy in 1990, a bill was passed that made an amnesty on those with shady pasts, provided that spies declared their history. Oleksy's mistake was to continuously deny his involvement with the security services.
In 1996, whilst he was serving as Prime Minister (under the wings of the now capitalist former Communist Party SLD) he resigned amidst claims that he was a spy. He was duly convicted, though he launched an appeal that dragged on until this month.
When the news broke on 26th December that fortune had not smiled on Oleksy this time round, the Speaker offered to resign his post as soon as a realistic replacement could be found. It was announced yesterday that his successor will be Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, also of the SLD Party.
The former communist party SLD has been remarkably successful in adapting to the new political climate, although over the last year their popularity has plummeted amidst a wave of corruption scandals. The Centre Right Party Platforma Obywatelska is widely tipped to win the forthcoming elections later in the year.
Mr. Oleksy himself has previously shown interest in becoming a man of the cloth, so their may yet be a future for this remarkable adventurer.
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