Six Polish rate-setters condemn attempts to put governor before tribunal

WARSAW (Reuters) - Six Polish rate-setters who support central bank governor Adam Glapinski labelled attempts to put him before a state tribunal an "unjustified" and "unprecedented" attack on the bank's independence in a statement published on Friday.

Lawmakers from Poland's ruling coalition will submit a preliminary motion to put Glapinski, whose ties to the leader of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party go back decades, before a state tribunal by the end of March, making good on a promise to hold him to account for what they say is a lack of independence.

Glapinski has also faced accusations of misleading the finance ministry over the central bank's results and of potentially breaking constitutional rules that prevent the central bank from financing government borrowing when it launched a quantitative easing programme during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He and his supporters have repeatedly rejected such accusations

"In connection with the actions announced in recent days aimed at submitting to the Parliament of the Republic of Poland a preliminary motion to hold the governor...accountable before the state tribunal, we declare that such actions should not take place," the statement said.

"We consider them to be unjustified, unprecedented, violating the independence of the central bank and undermining the credibility and dignity of the Republic of Poland," said the statement signed by Iwona Duda, Wieslaw Janczyk, Gabriela Masłowska, Ireneusz Dabrowski, Cezary Kochalski and Henryk Wnorowski.

The rate-setting Monetary Policy Council (MPC) is composed of ten members, including Glapinski himself.

Three further members of the council, Ludwik Kotecki, Przemysław Litwiniuk and Joanna Tyrowicz, who have spoken critically about Glapinski's actions in the past, did not sign the statement.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)