Adam Bodnar
Polish Minister of Justice
Born in 1977 in a small town on the Baltic Sea, not far from Szczecin, to which his Ukrainian father was exiled in 1947. The father came to a state farm, hence Bodnar’s then 5-year-old father would not grow up close to the border with Ukraine and become a Ukrainian terrorist (this may or may not be relevant to the development of Bodnar’s later views). These relocations were part of official post-war policy.
Lawyer
Bodnar is a lawyer and although he has been working with human rights from the beginning of his studies, he had a good job and the opportunity to earn a lot of money. And then one day he said – fuck it, and switched to become chairman of the Polish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. In the meantime, he did some work at the university and concentrated on human rights. Much of Bodnar’s interest has been centred on minority groups, including homosexuals and transsexuals.
Ombudsman
In 2015, Bodnar became ombudsman, and shortly afterwards a new government began attacking the constitutional foundations of Poland. As all the leading personalities were replaced, Bodnar became a clump on the leg pointing out the mistakes of the government and the Constitutional Court. He was due to step down as ombudsman in 2020, but by then there had been an election and the second chamber of parliament had an alternative majority. It therefore became difficult to elect a new ombudsman, so Bodnar served an extra year. During Bodnar’s tenure as Ombudsman, the PiS government cut the Ombudsman institution’s budget severely.
Not part of the political clan – at least not yet
Bodnar has not been Prime Minister-elect Tusk’s first choice, and he is likely to be a thorn in the side of rapid change. Bodnar is not affiliated with any party, and when forming a government, it is natural that the key positions will fall to the coalition partners, who will have to make their political horse trading.
The man who cleans up
Bodnar has been seen as a guarantee that everything will be done properly and legally in the new government. It is perhaps worth noting that in the last months before becoming a minister, Bodnar changed his mind about prosecution. Whereas he has previously warned of the consequences of putting people on trial without the voters understanding this, he has lately become an advocate of pursuing violations of the law with all available means. This may be a change that has made him more palatable to a number of coalition partners. But … the human rights defender has become tough since he became Minister of Justice. Perhaps he has even accepted that his unblemished reputation can be used to overcome some of the unpleasant tasks the new government is struggling with.
It’s not a man that’s easy to understand. He can come up with very long-winded sentences and legal jargon, which is why I was actually surprised when he came out as a politician. However, in recent years he seems to have learnt to express himself in a simpler way.
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