WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish government scandal sparked
by leaked recordings of officials’ private conversations lost some
steam on Wednesday when parliament voted its support for Prime Minister
Donald Tusk’s team.
The 237-203 vote came hours after Tusk
requested the vote of confidence to increase his political support as he
tries to contain a crisis that has threatened to topple some of his
ministers — and even the entire Cabinet.
Tusk had said that
without renewed majority support he wouldn’t be able to effectively
represent Poland in the European Union, where important structural and
personnel decisions are being made this week. Poland wants some high EU
positions.
"The government has obtained a strong mandate for its
future activity and with this strong mandate Prime Minister Tusk will
travel to Brussels tomorrow," said Parliament speaker Ewa Kopacz.
The
leading opposition party, Law and Justice, kept up its calls for Tusk
to resign despite the vote Wednesday, and vowed to request a
no-confidence vote.
Tusk suggested that foreign interests might
have been involved in the eavesdropping on ministers and high officials.
He did not name any country, but said businessmen trading coal and gas
from Russia were being investigated.
Wprost magazine has released a
number of tapes. In one, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski criticized
Poland’s alliance with the U.S. In another, Central Bank head Marek
Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz discussed how the
bank could help the governing party win 2015 re-election — a violation
of the bank’s independence.
Wprost said it obtained the recordings from a businessman.
Tusk
has refused to fire the ministers in the scandal, saying he will not be
dictated by people involved in "criminal activity" aimed at
destabilizing Poland. Polish law allows for up to two years in prison
for criminal eavesdropping.
Two restaurant employees and two
businessmen have been charged in the case. The chief editor of Wprost
was questioned as a witness and said he handed all secret recordings in
his possession over to the prosecutors.
