Łukasz Smółka has become the new marshal of the Małopolska province. The councillors of the regional assembly, in which PiS has a majority, have only reached an agreement on supporting their own party's candidate for the sixth time. Previously, they had rejected Łukasz Kmita five times. Łukasz Smółka was the vice-marshal of the province in the last term, and was previously known as a generously rewarded man of the Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk. He was also active in volunteer fire brigades.
The Małopolska Regional Assembly elected a new marshal on Thursday. It is Łukasz Smółka from Law and Justice.
It was the sixth – this time successful – attempt. choice new head of the provincial board. This had not been possible five times before, even though less than three months had passed since the elections, and Law and Justice all this time it had enough votes to elect a new marshal on its own. PiS MP Łukasz Kmita, who was pushed by Kmita himself, lost the vote five times Jaroslaw Kaczynski. His election was prevented, however, by a group of “rebels” from the PiS club.
Read also: “I hope the regional council will be less meme-like”. There is a new Marshal of Małopolska
PiS politicians Łukasz Kmita (left) and Łukasz Smółka during an extraordinary session of the Małopolska Regional AssemblyPAP/Łukasz Gągulski
Who is the new marshal of the Małopolska voivodeship?
Łukasz Smółka was born on April 1, 1982 in Krzeszowice, Lesser Poland. He graduated in agricultural and forestry technology from the Agricultural University in Krakow. He has been involved with volunteer fire departments for many years.
Lukasz Smolka@lukaszsmolkamalopolska (Facebook)
Łukasz Smółka was a PiS councilor for the Małopolska region in the 2014-2018 term, and in the 2018-2024 term he was the vice-marshal of the Małopolska region. Politically, Smółka was associated with Andrzej Adamczykformer head of the Ministry of Infrastructure. Since November 2015, the new marshal has been the head of the minister's office. Adamczyk himself was until recently the head of the Małopolska structures of Law and Justice, however, due to the rebellion of some PiS councillors, he was removed from this function by the party authorities, and his place was taken by the MP and former voivode Łukasz Kmita, who was pushed for the position of marshal.
“He participated in the most important projects for the Małopolska Province in the field of road and rail infrastructure” – we read about Smółka on the website of the Marshal's Office of the Małopolska Province.
Łukasz Smółka during an extraordinary session of the Małopolska Regional AssemblyPAP/Łukasz Gągulski
Łukasz Smółka's candidacy for the Marshal of the Małopolska Province was announced by the head of the PiS councillors' club, Rafał Stuglik, during the session on July 4. As previously established by the tvn24.pl portal, PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński accepted the councillor's candidacy.
In the elections to the Małopolska regional assembly in 2024, Łukasz Smółka ran from the first place on the PiS list in electoral district no. 2, covering the Proszowice, Kraków and Wieliczka counties. He received over 35 thousand votes, the most on the list. In 2018, he ran from the second place, behind Rafał Bochenek, receiving 12 thousand votes. In 2014, also in the second place on the list, he received almost 6,300 votes and also won a mandate.
Previously, Łukasz Smółka was the director of the office of the Provincial Association of Volunteer Fire Departments of the Republic of Poland and the coordinator of the project of the Małopolska Regional Operational Program concerning the purchase of specialist equipment for the purpose of strengthening the rescue potential of Małopolska firefighters. “He is still socially involved in the development of volunteer fire departments and local associations” – we read on the office's website.
Łukasz Smółka. Declaration of assets and record awards at Adamczyk's
According to Łukasz Smółka's property declaration for 2023, the new marshal owns a house with an area of 136 square meters, worth PLN 560,000.
As a member of the supervisory board of Trakcja SA, which deals with, among other things, the construction of road and rail infrastructure, in 2023 he achieved an income of PLN 96 thousand. As vice-marshal of the Małopolska province, he earned almost PLN 280 thousand in the same period.
In 2016 and 2017 Smółka, as head of the political cabinet of the Minister of Infrastructure, received record awardsa total of 114 thousand zlotys, which was controversial among the opposition at the time. – This is definitely more than Poles earn not in the form of awards, but in the form of salaries – said the head of Nowoczesna Katarzyna Lubnauer.
In 2023, Łukasz Smółka was decorated by the president Andrzej Duda Bronze Cross of Merit.
Main image source: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski