Silesia. Jakub Chełstowski was not dismissed from the position of marshal. Defeat of PiS councillors

Jakub Chełstowski will remain in the chair of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship. The motion of the Law and Justice councilors was rejected during the Monday session of the voivodship assembly. 18 councilors voted for the change of the marshal, and 24 were against. Nobody stopped.

– I would like to express my sincere thanks to the councilors who voted against the cancellation for the trust you gave us half a year ago and now for the second time (…). We are pushing this cart further, many good moments are ahead of us – said Chełstowski after the announcement of the results of the secret ballot. Workers in turn PIS they left the meeting.

The vote was related to political upheaval that took place in Upper Silesia in November 2022. Chełstowski, along with three other councillors, then left PiS, causing the party to lose its majority in the local assembly. Thus, the remaining members of the board of the Silesian Voivodeship lost their positions. Their seats were taken by the other councilors who left PiS. The new board enjoys the support of local government officials from the Civic Coalition, the Left and the Polish People’s Party.

The application for dismissal of the local government official was received on March 1. The Audit Committee stated that the application of the PiS councilors met the formal requirements, but its justification was insufficient. Therefore, the commission gave a negative opinion on the proposal of the councillors.

A majority of 3/5 votes was needed to remove Jakub Chełstowski from the chair of the voivodeship marshal. This means that the authors of the proposal needed at least 27 votes “for” to pass the motion in the 45-member regional assembly.

In their speeches, the Law and Justice councilors addressed not only board members, but also representatives of the Civic Coalition, encouraging them to support their motion. – Ladies and gentlemen from the Civic Coalition, you have a unique and unique situation to have your marshal today – said councilor Ewa Żak (PiS).

“You are no longer my marshal and never will be. You don’t keep your word, and you don’t speak to half of the councillors,’ Żak accused the marshal. In turn, councilor Jadwiga Baczyńska (PiS) wished the marshal to remain in office, but only to destroy the Civic Platform in this way. – The Marshal is on the leash of the Civic Platform and carries out all its orders. In fact, the “Yes for Poland” club no longer exists. I wish the Platform that the marshal stay in this position, because it guarantees your defeat – she said, reminding that before Chełstowski changed his political colors in the Silesian regional council, he also changed them as a city councilor in Tychy.

– I listen to constant invectives addressed to me. Full of rudeness, insults – Chełstowski responded to the statements of the councilors during the session. He noted that he remembers such moments in PiS, which he describes as good, “but also a lot of bad.” He noted that when he left the party Jarosław Kaczyński, it was no longer the same group as a few years earlier. He also accused PiS politicians of failing to show class with their motion.

“If you had class and elementary decency, you’d resign.” Show your class and let the majority you have elect you. Then you will come out with your head held high and you will talk about class – PiS councilor Zbigniew Przedpełski replied to the marshal.

His colleagues from the group “Yes! For Poland” stood up for the marshal. Rafał Kędziora, who together with Chełstowski left PiS in November, assessed that “everything has its limits”. “Everyone talks about actions, not causes. Many of you will understand why four councilors on November 21 made the decision they did. We did not agree to dishonesty – said Kędziora, motioning for the end of the discussion and the transition to voting on the motion to recall the marshal. Most councilors agreed to his proposal, therefore, after a short break in the deliberations, a secret ballot began, as a result of which Chełstowski remained in office.