WARSAW (Reuters) – The Polish parliament passed a watered down version of a law on undue Russian influence on Friday, backpedaling on a bill the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party approved last month.
The bill passed by a 235-5 margin, with nine abstentions as opposition did not take part in the vote.
After the law drew criticism from lawyers, the United States and the European Commission for effectively banning individuals from holding public office without judicial review, President Andrzej Duda proposed amendments to quell the concerns.
His proposals, which were passed by parliament on Friday, included provisions banning members of parliament from becoming members of the commission and removing the provisions which would allow people to be banned from office.
But according to the opposition and some experts even the watered down version of the document breaches the Polish constitution as it bundles executive, legislative and prosecuting powers in the hands of one institution.
The bill still needs the approval of the Senate, where the opposition holds a majority, before it can be signed into law by the President.
Under the initial version of the bill, a panel with investigative powers would have the power to ban people found to have acted under Russian influence from holding security clearance or working in roles where they are responsible for public funds for 10 years, effectively disqualifying them from public office.
According to PiS, the main purpose of the law was to show the truth about the influence of Russian agents in Poland, while the opposition said the ruling party wanted to mount a witch-hunt against its political opponents in an election year.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
