Olympic cross country skier Kornelia Marek should not be the only one to take the blame for doping, writes Gazeta Wyborcza, calling her the scapegoat of a ‘pathological system’.

Doping tests taken at the Olympics proved that the 25-year-old Kornelia Marek had been taking the EPO synthetic hormone, meant to improve her performance by boosting production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

There is no excuse for the young skier’s conduct, yet she is not the only one involved in the practices, and the only one who should be penalized. Meanwhile, having detected the athlete’s misconduct, the state anti-doping commission is not interested in finding the culprits from among the ranks of their colleagues, sports club officials, or coaches. The new anti-doping bill, submitted with the Lower House of Parliament, could change this. The document stipulates the prosecution of individuals who administered banned substances to minors or to athletes without their knowledge.

 Poland’s public debt exceeded 51 percent of GDP late last year, writes Rzeczpospolita.

Having based calculations on the system conducted by the European Commission, the paper concludes that nearing 52 percent of GDP, the figures have crossed the so-called first safety threshold under the public finance regulations. The government will thus have to draw up next year’s budget with a deficit no higher than this year’s 52,2 bln (over 13 bln euro). Official data will be released on 30 March.

The Civic Platform will fork out an equivalent of up to 130,000 euro for the preliminary presidential elections within the party, writes Polska Times.

It is, however, money well spent, experts claim, as it is not a high price to pay for good publicity, said a political adviser quoted by the daily. Another expert believes it is amazing how Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s party managed to cast aside all the other players on the political scene, along with the proceedings of the investigative commission looking into the recent gambling scandal in the Civic Platform.

Polska writes that the commotion and sarcastic remarks between the contenders, Parliamentary Speaker Bronisław Komorowski and Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski are gradually escalating. It is nothing, however, compared to what goes on among the opposition parties, which are getting increasingly irked with taking the backseat in media coverage. (ab)