Polish Political Representation at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Only sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki will be attending the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

Whilst 238 representatives of Poland will be competing neither President Lech Kaczynski, nor Prime Minister Donald Tusk will be attending the opening ceremony or visiting China. Public opinion is somewhat devided about the appropriate level of political representation given China’s human rights record.

Donald Tusk is staying away from the Olympics

A recent poll found that 49 percent were of the opinion that the politicians should stay at home.

When asked whether Polish athletes should in any way protest against violation of human rights in China during the Olympics 62 percent said that the sportsmen should protest in some way, while 33 percent were against.