Małopolska, deadlock in the election of the voivodeship marshal. Fifth attempt

On Tuesday, an extraordinary session of the Małopolska regional assembly took place. The regional assembly began its deliberations at around 6 p.m. Shortly afterwards, an hour-long break was called, which was then extended. It was to last until 8:35 p.m. Then the break was extended again until 9:05 p.m. The voting process began after 9 p.m.

The Vice-Marshal of Małopolska Józef Gawron (PiS) on Tuesday announced the candidacy of councillor, former governor of Małopolska, deputy head of the Chancellery of the President Piotr Ćwik for the marshal of the province. This meant that Ćwik was the countercandidate PiS MP Łukasz Kmita, who ran for this office for the fifth time.

The announcement of Ćwik's candidacy aroused indignation among some PiS councillors and MPs present in the session hall, including the deputy head of the PiS parliamentary club Ryszard Terlecki and Małopolska councilor Barbara Nowak.

On the fifth attempt, it was again impossible to elect a marshal. 39 councilors voted. Kmita was supported by 13 of them, Ćwik – 6. 20 votes were invalid. Next session on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Both Gawron and Ćwik, as well as Witold Kozłowski, were suspended from PiS membership before the session. KO and TD-PSL councilors did not nominate a candidate.

In the 39-member Małopolska Regional Assembly, PiS has 21 seats, the Civic Coalition – 12, and Trzecia Droga-PSL – six.

To take the office of the Marshal of Małopolska, votes of at least 20 councilors are needed. Former governor Łukasz Kmita recommended by the PiS chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynskiduring the sessions on May 6 he received 17 votes of support, on June 19 – 13 votes.

During the session on Monday, July 1, the opposition for the first time nominated its countercandidate, voivode Krzysztof Jan Klęczar (PSL). That day, voting took place twice. In both, Klęczar won more support than Kmita. In the first ballot, he received 18 votes, in the second, 19, while Kmita received 14 in the first, and 16 in the second.

According to unofficial information, local government officials around the current Speaker Witold Kozłowski and, more broadly, former Prime Minister Beata Szydło and MP Andrzej Adamczyk.

On Tuesday, October 10, Łukasz Kmita published a statement by Małopolska parliamentarians from the PiS club, in which they appeal to the regional councilors.

“Recently, we have witnessed unprecedented behavior by some councilors associated with the Law and Justice club in the Małopolska regional assembly, which behavior undermines the unity of our party and the entire united right wing,” we read in the document. The parliamentarians also said that “the actions of a small group of councilors are assessed as highly inappropriate.”

“We expect you to elect Mr. Łukasz Kmita as the Marshal of Małopolska as soon as possible,” it was written, among other things. It was also recalled that the PiS statute “contains a provision stating that each PiS member is obliged to comply with the provisions of the statute, including in particular the decisions of the party authorities.”

After May 6, the central party authorities decided to appoint Kmita as the chairman of the Małopolska structures in place of Andrzej Adamczyk. The last session (July 1) of the regional assembly was preceded by suspension of the director of the office this regional council of Michał Ciechowski with the rights of a PiS member.

According to the regulations, the provincial assembly must elect the marshal within three months of the announcement of the results. electionsi.e. by July 9. If this does not happen, new elections will be necessary.