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Polish PM Donald Tusk has dismissed six ministers, his closest aides and members of the ruling Civic Platform (PO) inner circle, headlines Rzeczpospolita. This follows the resignation of another senior figure as head of the parliamentary party. Prominent PO politicians have made the front pages for several days now in relation to a scandal over foul play in the drafting of a gambling bill. The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) headed by Mariusz Kamiński, close to the Law and Justice party, has presented allegations of illegal lobbying backed up by recordings of secret talks between ruling party officials and operators of gambling businesses. Tusk, however, denies that the reshuffle has anything to do with the accusations against his ministers. Announcing that he will okay a special parliamentary commission to investigate the gambling scandal, it is an attempt, he claims, to “clear the atmosphere” around his party and government and regain public trust. “The prime minister has proven an effective leader, but the coming months will show if he is a great statesman,” enthuses Polska. Rzeczpospolita considers that the prime minister has abandoned the so-called “politics of love” and has gone on the warpath against the opposition ahead of next year’s election. Hot on the heels of the CBA’s allegations against his PO stablemates, his sudden decision to fire Kamiński as head is commented less as a political manoevre than as the first shot in this campaign.
