Józef Oleksy
Encyclopedia
Józef Oleksy AUD is a post-communist
Post-Communism
Post-communism is a name sometimes given to the period of political and economic transformation or "transition" in former Communist states located in parts of Europe and Asia, in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economies with some form of parliamentary...

 Polish politician, former chairman of Democratic Left Alliance
Democratic Left Alliance
Democratic Left Alliance is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Formed in 1991 as a coalition of centre-left parties, it was formally established as a single party on 15 April 1999. It is currently the third largest opposition party in Poland....

 (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD).

From 1968 to 1990 he was a member of the communist Polish United Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...

. Between 21 April 2004 and 5 January 2005 he was the speaker (marszałek) of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

, lower house of Polish parliament. He is also a former Minister of Internal Affairs, and was the Prime Minister of Poland from 1995 until 1996, when he resigned due to long-term connections to KGB officer Vladimir Alganov
Vladimir Alganov
Vladimir Alganov is a Russian spy. He was Soviet KGB officer in Warsaw, Poland in the 1980s and Russian SVR officer in the same city in the 1990s.In 1996, Poland's Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigned because of his links to Alganov....

.

Oleksy admitted the relationship, but denied knowing about Alganov's KGB activities. Andrzej Milczanowski said that Oleksy had passed classified documents to Alganov from the 1980s (when Oleksy was Minister of Internal Affairs) until he became Prime Minister.

Oleksy tapes

The Oleksy tapes, revealing most uncomplimentary opinions of members of the post communist Democratic Left Alliance
Democratic Left Alliance
Democratic Left Alliance is a social-democratic political party in Poland. Formed in 1991 as a coalition of centre-left parties, it was formally established as a single party on 15 April 1999. It is currently the third largest opposition party in Poland....

 (SLD) by Poland's former Prime Minister and one of the leaders of the grouping may lead to general investigation. The tapes which "leaked" to the media on 22 March 2007 are a record of a private conversation Jozef Oleksy had with one of Poland's richest businessmen Aleksander Gudzowaty
Aleksander Gudzowaty
Aleksander Gudzowaty is a Polish businessman and economist, one of the most richest Polish people.- Biography :...

.

Some Polish analysts point that Gudzowaty staged meetings with leftists politicians to record their conversations. The tapes suggest corruption in the SLD party. Oleksy accused former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwasniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski is a Polish politician who served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s...

 of illegal financial procedures, spoke very harshly of then SLD leader Wojciech Olejniczak
Wojciech Olejniczak
Wojciech Michał Olejniczak is a Polish leftist politician and member of the European Parliament.He was the chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance from May 29, 2005, to May 31, 2008 and the vice-speaker of Sejm since October 26, 2005...

 and several other members of the party.

Jozef Oleksy subsequently publicly apologised for his remarks in what he said was a strictly private conversation. SLD leaders and those mentioned in the tapes considered to take legal action against him, but eventually failed to do so. He remained outside of the politics and mainstream media coverage until early 2010, when he reconciled with his old party colleagues during a party conference and supported Jerzy Szmajdzinski
Jerzy Szmajdzinski
Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński was a Polish politician who was a Vice-Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election....

's bid for the presidential election.

See also


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