Law and Justice councillors have a majority in the Małopolska regional assembly, but so far they have not managed to elect Łukasz Kmita, who was recommended as the new marshal. There have been four unsuccessful attempts. On Tuesday evening, the vote will take place for the fifth time. Although the regional assembly began around 6 p.m., it is already uphill.
The fifth attempt is scheduled for Tuesday evening. choice the ruler of the Małopolska province. Law and Justice MP Łukasz Kmita has not been elected as marshal four times since May. On Monday – after the fourth unsuccessful attempt to elect him – he announced that he would be a candidate once again.
Political scientists believe that the situation we are witnessing in Małopolska should not occur because PIS has a stable majority in the regional assembly. Out of 39 seats, it has 21, while the Civic Coalition has 12 seats and Trzecia Droga has six.
The regional assembly began its session at around 6 p.m. Shortly afterwards, an hour-long break was called, which was later extended. It was to last until 8:35 p.m. Then the break was extended again until 9:05 p.m.
PiS suspends members
In addition – even before the vote on the election of the marshal, which has not yet taken place – the PiS authorities suspended the rights of party members of Marshal Witold Kozłowski, Vice-Marshal Józef Gawron and Councillor Piotr Ćwik. The information about the suspension was confirmed to TVN24 reporter Marcin Kwaśny by the chairman of the PiS club Richard Terlecki.
Kaczyński's candidate without support
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.
PiS has a majority, but cannot elect the Marshal of Małopolska. Another attempt on TuesdayTVN24
Appeal of PiS MPs from Małopolska to councillors
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.”
If they don't choose a ruler
After May 6, the central party authorities decided to appoint Kmita as the chairman of the Małopolska branch in place of Andrzej Adamczyk. The last session (July 1) of the regional assembly was preceded by suspension of the director of the office of this regional assembly, Michał Ciechowski, in the rights of a PiS member. According to the regulations, the provincial assembly must elect a marshal within three months from the date of announcement of the election results, i.e. by July 9. If this does not happen, new elections will be necessary.
Main image source: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski