Marcin Romanowski announced on Thursday that he “renounced the status of a professional MP” and will therefore not receive parliamentary “remuneration”. The PiS MP and former Minister of Justice, who was granted asylum in Hungary and was subject to an arrest warrant, said that he would “continue as a 'non-professional' MP” to “work for the inhabitants of the Lublin region.”
PiS MP Marcin Romanowski said on Thursday on TV Trwam that he “just renounced his status as a professional MP.” He added that he would not, therefore, “receive remuneration as an MP.”
In a post on the platform, X shared this fragment of his statement and added an additional comment. “Still, as a 'non-professional' MP, I and my offices will work with full determination and commitment for the residents of the Lublin region. And I personally will not rest until the rule of law is restored in Poland. The manipulations of adjudicating panels, legal court presidents and bosses must end. prosecutors' offices must return to their positions, with National Prosecutor Dariusz Barski at the head (original spelling – ed.),” he wrote.
“The government is obliged to publish and implement the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal and all, and not only selected, judgments of the Supreme Court. It is not Tusk's 'eye' or Bodnar's private opinions, but the Constitution that decides what is law in Poland. Stop Tusk's lawlessness,” he added.
We sent questions to the Chancellery of the Sejm about whether Marshal Szymon Hołownia received documents on this matter and what the procedure for waiving remuneration for parliamentary work is. We have not received a response until the text is published.
We read on the Sejm website that “the concepts of 'professional' and 'non-professional' MP do not have a statutory definition – they are used in journalism.”
“It is most often assumed that a professional MP is a parliamentarian who receives the full parliamentary salary, which means that the 'parliamentary salary' is his sole or main source of income. Rules for combining the receipt of a parliamentary salary with receiving a pension, professional work or conducting business activity is defined in Article 25, sections 3 and 3a and 4 of the Act on the exercise of the mandate of a deputy and senator,” it was added.
The Sejm also informs that “the parliamentary salary is PLN 12,826.64 gross, and the parliamentary allowance is PLN 4,008.33 gross.”
Draft amendment to the Act on the exercise of the mandate of a deputy and senator
Meanwhile, on December 31, the Polish 2050 i. initiative was submitted to the Sejm on the initiative of a group of KO MPs PSL a draft amendment to the Act on the exercise of the mandate of a deputy and senator.
It assumes that a parliamentarian against whom a decision to apply temporary arrest has been issued will not be able to, among other things, benefit from the right to remuneration or parliamentary allowance.
As a consequence, a suspected parliamentarian – according to this project – will not be able to carry out field activities (including the right to intervene or the right to information). He will also not be able to “use social and living rights, such as the right to a salary or a parliamentary allowance.”
Previously, December 20 Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia informed that the Presidium of the Sejm had adopted a resolution in which it expressed the opinion that Romanowski, by applying for political asylum in Hungary clearly declared publicly his intention to permanently evade the basic obligation of a Member of Parliament, which is to be present at a meeting of the House.
Hołownia then said that since the politician “does not want to fulfill his parliamentary mandate, it means that he should not receive remuneration for it.” He announced then that, most likely in January, he would propose an amendment to the Act on the exercise of the mandate of MPs and Senators, which would clarify such situations.
Romanowski was charged with asylum and received asylum in Hungary
PiS MP Marcin Romanowski – former deputy minister of justice – is a suspect in the investigation into the Justice Fund. This proceeding – ongoing since February 2024 – covers several topics, including: regarding the abuse of powers and failure to fulfill duties by the Minister of Justice and ministry officials who were responsible for money from the Fund. In the case of Romanowski, who was the deputy head of the Ministry of Justice supervising the FS in the years 2019-2023, the prosecutor's office accuses him of committing 11 crimes, including: participation in an organized criminal group and arranging competitions for money from this fund. Romanowski's crimes were to include, among others: “by indicating to subordinate employees entities that should win competitions for subsidies from the Justice Fund.” The politician also allegedly ordered corrections of erroneous offers before submitting them and allowed grants to be awarded to entities that did not meet formal and material requirements. The charges also concern the misappropriation of a total of over PLN 107 million and attempted misappropriation of over PLN 58 million.
A provisional arrest order was issued against Romanowski, and later a European Arrest Warrant was issued. They have not been executed yet, and Romanowski is in Hungary, where he received political asylum from the authorities.
Main photo source: Jakub Orzechowski/agencja wyborcza.pl