Law and Justice ran in the local elections under the slogan “We are for yes. Let's build together.” But it is clearly not easy to build lists together for the European elections. And certainly not everyone was in favor of it when it turned out where Maciej Wąsik would run. How stormy the deliberations at Nowogrodzka Street must have been?
– We have a habit of not talking about what happened at political committees – replies Marek Suski, an MP from Law and Justice, when asked whether he set a condition that either he or Maciej Wąsik would be on the list for the European Parliament.
It was MP Marek Suski who was responsible for changing places on the lists to the European Parliament. According to our unofficial information, Marek Suski, as the head of the Masovian region, was to demand the removal of Maciej Wąsik from the Masovian list.
In the background there is a sharp conflict between politicians. The prosecutor's office confirmed on Friday that Marek Suski is among the people who could have been spied on by Pegasus during the rule of the Kamiński-Wąsik duo in the services. As explained to tvn24.pl by the spokesman of the National Prosecutor's Office, Przemysław Nowak, the summons does not mean that Suski was wiretapped. – This is under investigation – he said.
Due to the above-mentioned brawl, Jacek Kurski had to give up the number one place in Podlasie to Wąsik and take over the number two place in the Masovian district.
– What a drama. How can such a man convince anyone in Brussels, when they were the subject of the European Parliament, because they violated human rights, because they created a hate factory on television – says Dariusz Joński, MP and candidate of the Civic Coalition in the elections to the European Parliament. – Do Poles want convicted criminals in Brussels? I'm not convinced, he adds.
However, there were to be more disputes during Thursday's meeting at the headquarters of Law and Justice, where all the names of candidates on the electoral lists were approved. – I voted differently than most of the committee – says Wojciech Szarama. However, the PiS MP did not want to say what exactly his doubts were about.
Former prime ministers will fight for the seats
The Left and the Polish People's Party also approved their lists on Friday.
– We are sending people who know about the EU, who know the languages and who can navigate the EU corridors – assures Krzysztof Śmiszek, deputy minister of justice from the New Left.
According to information from “Fakty” TVN, next to deputy ministers Krzysztof Śmiszek, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus and Andrzej Szejna and MPs Krzysztof Konieczny and Anna Maria Żukowska, former prime ministers Marek Belka and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz will also compete for a mandate to the European Parliament. And it is primarily on them that the Left wants to build a campaign in which it will fight to cross the threshold.
– It will be a fight for every vote, but above all, let me remind you that the left led Poland into the European Union – points out Andrzej Szejna, deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Leaders of the Left in the European Parliament electionsFakty TVN
Third Way Fittings
Current MPs, including Paweł Zalewski, Michał Kobosko, Magdalena Sroka, but also Krzysztof Hetman and Bożena Żelazowska and senators Ryszard Bober and Michał Kamiński, are to fight for the seats together as part of the Third Way.
Kosiniak-Kamysz: letters to the European Parliament are 97 percent readyTVN24
– I hope that we will be able to recruit seven or eight MEPs in these elections – says Szymon Hołownia, Speaker of the Sejm.
– We are trying to give the strongest names in order to mobilize our voters to vote in these elections – adds Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense.
In Third Way, the final talks with the candidates are still ongoing.
Leaders of the Third Way lists in the European Parliament electionsFakty TVN
Main photo source: Jaroslav Francisko / Shutterstock.com