Once seen as a European problem child over its rule of law violations, Poland appeared to turn a new leaf. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, the eastern European country rebranded itself as the standard-bearer of European solidarity with Kyiv, as well as a staunch defender of democratic values. In a speech in Warsaw earlier this year commemorating the anniversary of the war, President Joe Biden spoke warmly of Poland’s role in maintaining Western resolve against Russian autocracy. “We’re seeing again today what the people of Poland and the people all across Europe saw for decades,” said the U.S. President. “Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed.”

But Poland’s makeover was only ever skin-deep. This became especially apparent this week when Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law new legislation that could effectively ban opposition lawmakers from public office for a decade under the guise of rooting out Russian interference in the country.

Put forward by the ruling right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), the law paves the way for the creation of a new commission that the Polish government says would be tasked with investigating alleged Russian interference in the country from 2007 to 2022. In particular, the commission will look at gas deals signed with Moscow that the government says left the country overly reliant on Russian energy.

According to Reuters, the commission will be comprised of nine members appointed by the Polish parliament’s lower house—the majority of whom are expected to be PiS lawmakers—and could deliver its initial report as early as September. That is just weeks before the country’s fall parliamentary election. Those deemed guilty of acting under “Russian influence” (the exact parameters of which is unclear) stand to face harsh penalties, including a potential 10-year ban from managing public funds, which would in effect disqualify them from public office. There is no apparent appeals process for those who are found guilty under the legislation.

Critics of the new law have dubbed the legislation “Lex Tusk” after the purported target of the new legislation, the former Polish prime minister and centrist opposition leader Donald Tusk. In 2010, Tusk’s government signed a deal with Russia’s Gazprom, which was reportedly cited in the official justification for the new bill. But many say that the creation of such a commission is unconstitutional on the grounds that it would be open to abuse and empower an extrajudicial commission to bar the government’s political rivals from public life. The commission’s powers amount to a “symbolic beheading,” said Mirosław Wyrzykowski, a retired judge on the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, “based on an absolutely discretional assessment of information and evidence.”