Barbara Blida

Infobox Officeholder
name = Barbara Blida
small

order = Member of Sejm
term_start = 4 July 1989
term_end = 18 October 2005
birth_date = 3 December 1949
birth_place = Siemianowice Śląskie
death_date = 25 April 2007 (aged 57)
death_place = Siemianowice Śląskie
order2 = Minister for Construction and Spatial Management of the Republic of Poland
term_start2 = 26 October 1993
term_end2 = 31 December 1996
predecessor2 = Andrzej Bratkowski
successor2 = Jerzy Kropiwnicki
party = Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej

Barbara Blida (3 December 1949, Siemianowice Śląskie – 25 April 2007, Siemianowice Śląskie) was a Polish left-wing politician, long-time Member of the Sejm, the lower chamber of Polish parliament, and a former Minister for Construction and Spatial Management, and later a construction industry executive.

Political and professional career

Born as Barbara Maria Szwajnoch, Blida graduated in 1976 from the Faculty of Sanitary Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology. Despite her family traditions, she joined the then-ruling communist Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza as early as 1969, and remained a member until its dissolution 1990. She later continued to be a member of its political succesors, the Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (1990-1999) and Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (1999-2004).

As a member of the PZPR, she was elected a Member of Sejm in 1989, and served for six consecutive terms until 2005 (having quit SLD in 2004, she served her last year as an independent Member). During that period, on October 26, 1993, she was appointed the Minister for Construction and Spatial Management in the Waldemar Pawlak cabinet, and served in that capacity in subsequent governments of Józef Oleksy and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz until December 31, 1996, when the Ministry was replaced by the Central Office for Housing and Municipal Development, which Blida continued to be head of until the end of the term of Cimoszewicz's government on October 17, 1997. The Ministry was only restored as Ministry of Regional Development and Construction in 2000, with Jerzy Kropiwnicki assuming the office.

After the end of her tenure as government minister, Blida continued to sit in the Sejm, but also ventured into business, becoming the president of J.W. Construction sp. z o.o., one of Poland's biggest real-estate developers in 2001.

Death

According to media accounts and later official reports, Blida was to be charged with corruption for accepting financial gains from Barbara Kmiecik, an arrested felon involved in a large-scale criminal scheme involving the state-controlled coal trade. Kmiecik allegedly named Blida as one of the officials she corrupted.

On the early morning of Wednesday, April 25 2007, the Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego (ABW) (Agency of Internal Security) entered Blida's house in Siemianowice Śląskie with a prosecutor's warrant in order to arrest her and search the house for evidence. According to ABW reports, during the search, Blida asked for permission to use the bathroom, where she took out her "Astra" revolver and shot herself in the chest. Subsequent resuscitation efforts by ABW agents proved ineffective.

Aftermath of Blida's death

Her death became the most important news item in the Polish media during that day, and sparked many comments and controversies, also voiced during a special Sejm session. ABW was accused of unprofessional handling of the matter, especially not making sure Blida handed over the gun, as it was publicly known she was granted a permission for and owned one after criminal assaults on her life in her last years. Some sources also purported that her death could not have been an effect of planned suicide, but rather of a scuffle with ABW agents, an accusation that was promptly dismissed by the officials.

Opposition leaders called for the resignation of Secret Services Coordinator, Minister Zbigniew Wassermann after the incident, but during the hearing in the Sejm he announced he has no intentions to resign but rather asked Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński to suspend the chief of ABW.

References

* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Poland_Minister_Suicide.html "Former Polish minister commits suicide"] , "Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070425.wpoland0425/BNStory/International/home Past member of Polish government kills self when police call] , globeandmail.com
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Persondata
NAME= Blida, Barbara Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Polish politician
DATE OF BIRTH= 3 December 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH= Siemianowice Śląskie
DATE OF DEATH= 25 April 2007, aged 57
PLACE OF DEATH= Siemianowice Śląskie