Obituary- Andrzej Lepper
End of a populist politican in a country with particularily high mortality rate among populist politicians
There is something particularly scary, shocking and moving in Andrzej Lepper’s death. He seemed to be a particularly strong personality, apart from being a populist politician. His friends and colleagues described him as a “hard man”. He had children, one of which was sick and in need of care and help. He intended to candidate in coming elections. Though his career seemed to be wrecked by a sexual affair in the past. As BBC explains it, he was accused “of soliciting sexual favours in exchange for job opportunities with his party”. However, public opinion had no chance to hear the details of story, the trial was conducted behind the closed door. He appealed from the verdict, and the case was still pending.
As I have found in Mr. Lepper book of condolence, he intended to merge his party into one electoral list with Bogusław Ziętek’s Polish Labour Party. This alliance would for sure make a threat to Law and Justice or postcommunist SLD. In the past, Polish Labour Party managed to collect horrendous amounts of signatures required by Polish electoral law as a condition for registration of candidature. In recent parliamentary elections only seven parties managed to register their lists, one of them was Polish Labour Party. Mr Lepper comeback would be noticed, his chances were still existing. Next day after his alleged suicide he had a media interview appointed at 10.
There was no angry letter left-behind, something You would expect from a forgotten star, from an aging politician willing to turn his departure into a manifestation. No, although the deceased man was a remarkably potent blogger as for his age. What left, was shock and disbelief. Andrzej Lepper, former sportsmen, boxer, seemed vigorous. His alleged corruptive affairs were rather petty scandals compared to grossly overpriced large-scale transactions going on with the new “smart populist” government. His political group was once quite powerful, I remember chatting with one of local politicians from his party. This average populist seemed smart, although very new in Polish, nearly exclusively populist, politics.
Andrzej Lepper was not a type of looser, he was certainly not the type of people you would expect to have suicidal thoughts. His condolence book is full of earnest disbelief. Mourners wonder, how such a person, able to withstand such media criticism as he did in the past, could decide to commit suicide in times when he was not in the attention of media. On his Facebook profile one can find many opinions of those who judge suicide as a very improbable reason of politicians’ death. Some even call Poland as “2nd Belarus”.
Andrzej Lepper everything he got, won by his own talents, as Cezary Krzysztopa claims, showing his class background. Such divisions are still clearly visible in elder generations of Polish society, and Mr Lepper was a clear sign of it. He was a self-made man, “naturszczyk”, natural one, as You would translate this Polish slang world. His face was constantly sun-burnt, maybe primarily because of exposure to sun at his work (he was a peasant, in the past he managed even a state-run farm), later- gossip claimed that he frequented solariums.
It was much later in his career that he hired a professional political adviser, Mr Tymochowicz, to undergo costly transformation from a peasant-turned-politician into a proper political leader. At a public meeting I was once told by Mr Tymochowicz how large the amount was, I cannot repeat it exactly, it could have been even 150 Thousand Euro in total. I remember that as for Polish conditions, the man paid extremely a lot for being taught to all necessary political behaviour.
Mr Tymochowicz called the alleged suicide as a reason for Mr. Andrzej Lepper’s death as “something not capable to his mind”. Most commentators are skeptical to the reasons of death so quickly announced in commercial tabloid media. As for Lepper’s pig farmer background, no matter what he would be doing in the future, he would be regarded with respect, as a man who was smart enough to climb to governmental positions.
“Polish media” is a petty phenomenon, as apolitical professional journalists are in marginal quantities. Largest media are closely related to political groups, and profit from governmental subsidies in form of profitable frequencies in Polish oligopolised radio and television market. Independent journalism however exist on the margin of attention. Maria Wiernikowska, one of most distinguished of Polish very few professional journalists, created a document entitled “Ja zwariowałam” (“I got mad”) about the accusations that Mr Andrzej Lepper made.
Rumours Mr Lepper spread were just rumours. In 2001 Andrzej Lepper made accusations on alleged landing of a plane carrying some Talibans in a village called Klewki, not much remnant from CIA’s site in Stare Kiejkuty.
The name of the village, Klewki, sounds both funny and stupid, even viciously stupid. Polish language is so constructed, that the village name, Klewki, could stand for an allegory of most forgotten countryside, where only pigs and prejudice are cultivated. The “Polish media” explored that vibe. Mr Lepper was made to an idiot, believing that Talibans would land for some reason in such a no-go area. Wiernikowska was given the task to discredit accusations of Mr Lepper. She however supported the findings that Mr Lepper brought to the light of public opinion. She prepared a documentary, which, she claimed, cost her loosing her job as a journalist and 2-3 years of life as a jobless person.
Klewki, after the reaction of “Polish media”, became synonymous for something completely absurd, unvbelievable, saying shortly: a complete bullshit. Wiernikowska however discovered… she was shown by local cattle men the helipad where some mysterious helicopters were landing. Some Afghan people, seen in turbans.
Nearby- a headquarter of a company that imported emeralds from Afghanistan (Inter Commerce). The company owned a helicopter, used it on the route to Klewki. Former minister, Afghan general Masuda (Shah Massoud), was allegedly one of the visitors of the company owned by Rudolf Skowroński. Mr Skowroński, once 55th on the list of richest Poles, gained fortune in property business for the distribution network Carrefour. Some vaccinantions, viruses, needed to be tested on cattle, possibly also Anthrax. Mysterious Afghan customers were ordering such tests.
Man who was a whistleblower in the affair, was a zootechnician, a manager, at Mr. Skowronski’s company. Only the Anthrax tests on cattle accusation could not be verified by Ms Wiernikowska journalistic research. Maybe the accusation that some terrorists landed in Klewki could not be upheld- only one person mentioned the cattle tests with Anthrax, but other Afghans apparently did landed, possibly for some commercial purposes, possibly for more.
In 2008 I watched the “recently revealed” documentary film made by Wiernikowska and in an article I called then the whole event as the largest journalistic scandal of a whole decade. Mr Lepper was a victim of unprofessional, heavily politically biased “Polish media”. The Klewki journalistic affair is by no doubt the largest media scandal of a whole époque after 1989, as a man was made an idiot publicly by biased media, without a right to defend. For many years after the affair the television documentary of Ms Wiernikowska could not be broadcasted, so she made the subject into a book, that was published with many names and facts blacked out (she feared legal steps).
Andrzej Lepper was often described as pro-Russian politician, some suggest that he earned his position not by himself. He claimed that elections in Belarussia met democratic standards, being an observer there. When serving as a Member of European Parliament he was accused of raping a prostitute. He responded then: “how can you rape a prostitute?” During Russian war in Georgia, Russian State Television “accidentally” met one foreigner, who spoke fluent Russian and supported Russian military action in Georgia. According to blogger Witold Gadowski, this “accidental foreigner” was Mateusz Piskorski, then spokesmen of Mr Lepper parliamentary party. He also petitioned prosecutors when demonstrators burned Mr. Putin effigy earlier this year.
Lepper’s political party is particularly prone to suicides of chief politicians. Last month another person closely related to Andrzej Lepper also committed suicide. It was Lepper’s main aide. How many serious politicians in Western Europe committed suicide recently? In Poland the mortality rate among politicians of opposing parties is stunningly high indeed. Bronisław Geremek, Christian democrat, one of very few democrats, died in a car crash. Barbara Blida, social democrat, also committed suicide under much disputed circumstances. Dozens of politicians lost their lives in Smolensk presidential plane disaster. Although most suiciders leave some letters behind, all of Poland’s several “famous” political suiciders have not left any message behind.
After the police was summoned to the deathplace of a former deputy prime minister Lepper, it took nearly 50 minutes to reach the place. The name is known to nearly everyone, it was a politician that not a long time ago ranked third in presidential or parliamentary elections. 50 minutes, although place of his death is located some 400 meters from Warsaw’s main tube station. Another 6 precious hours passed till technical staff started investigations at the scene of alleged suicide. The autopsy of the corpse of the dead was not yet performed, it was announced for Monday. If murder happened, precious time passed already, chemical substances may have already dissolved, leaving no traces.
In the discussion that arouse on the Internet website of “The Economist”, a person disguised as “from Gdansk” argued that Lepper, compared to Donald Tusk from ruling party -Civic Platform, was “a populist of the nobler sort. For a start his analysis of people's grievances was essentially sound.” Author observed that Lepper possessed charm and charisma that Donald Tusk lacks. “He was tough but almost always cheerful and humorous”. In contrast with Lech Walesa’s “Solidarność”, he created his movement by his own force and energy.
But Andrzej Lepper was also an economic populist, he wanted to fight poverty by printing money or reducing monetary reserves. Well, is it not a kind of understanding of economy that You would expect from a former peasant? Mr Lepper’s constant financial difficulties were familiar to most observers of Polish politics. It was even argued that he entered into politics to escape from his debtors. He never managed to pay them back, allegedly he was still heavily indebted though having worked as a deputy prime minister.
Worrying is what comes next. Mr Lepper opened a new, more populist era in Polish politics, but his unexpected death may be a prelude for something even more powerful. If something killed Mr Lepper, than this is disproportionately more dangerous than this peasant-turned-into-a-populist-politician that has not even managed to repay his debtors during his controversial decade-long political career.
Ras Fufu,
Warsaw Ras Tafari Community, secretary
Inne tematy w dziale Polityka
