Former Polish minister arrested

30 Aug, 2007 12:35 / Updated 17 years ago

Poland's former Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek has been arrested for hampering a corruption investigation. The politician has previously accused the Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his government of spying on political rivals and independent jou

Mr Kaczmarek was fired from his post earlier this month. A member of the opposition Civic Platform party, Krzysztof Lisek, says the arrest triggers political uncertainty and raises the likelihood of early elections. “We are in front of a very strange situation which never happened during the last 18 years. We think the situation is not normal. It’s a destruction of the Government and Jaroslaw Kaczynski is in panic. Next week we should vote and make the work period of this parliament shorter. According to the Constitution, the new parliamentary elections can be held in 45 days. Some politicians said today that maybe Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his Government are trying to make us afraid which is an  unacceptable method in a democratic country in 21th century Europe,” he said.