Józef Oleksy

Who is Józef Oleksy?

Józef Oleksy is a Polish left-wing politician, former chairman of the Democratic Left Alliance.

From 1968 to 1990 he was a member of the communist Polish United Workers' Party. Between 21 April 2004 and 5 January 2005 he was the speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of the 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.

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 until he became Prime Minister.

A record of a private conversation Jozef Oleksy had with one of Poland's richest businessmen Aleksander Gudzowaty "leaked" to the media on 22 March 2007. The tapes suggested corruption in the SLD party. Oleksy accused former president Aleksander Kwaśniewski of illegal financial procedures, and spoke very harshly of then SLD leader Wojciech Olejniczak and several other members of the party. He soon left the SLD.