Sex Scandal Sends Minister To Jail
A former Deputy Prime Minister has been sentenced to over two years in prison following a protracted sexual harassment case.
Andrzej Lepper, leader of the controversial Self Defence Party, was convicted of soliciting sex from a woman who was applying for a job. Stanislaw Lyzwinski, another high-ranking member of the party, has also been convicted of similar crimes, and the latter is due to serve a 5 year term.
Andrzej Lepper was widely regarded as a sort of bad joke in Polish politics. After the fall of the Communist regime (Lepper was himself a party member) he founded a new party to defend embattled farmers like himself. He became notorious for blocking roads and other stunts. His populist stance won him voters, especially in poorer parts of the countryside. In 2005, his party won 11 percent of the votes in the general elections.
Following the collapse of the expected power-sharing deal been the two leading parties, Lepper was invited to join a coalition by Jaroslaw Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party. The sex scandal broke a year later, but it did not come as a huge surprise, owing to Lepper's colourful history. When the affair broke, he chuckled, "How can you rape a prostitute?"