“As long as the late Lech Kaczyński was alive, you did not dare raise your hand against the judicial branch,” Borys Budka, an MP from the Civic Platform (PO), said on Tuesday night at the Sejm. Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), responded to his words by saying: “Do not wipe your treacherous mouths with the name of my late brother, you attacked him, you murdered him, you scoundrels.”
On Tuesday night at the Sejm, the second reading of the parliamentary bill on the Supreme Court began.
Amendments proposed by the Law and Justice party (PiS)
Stanisław Piotrowicz (PiS) said that PiS proposed a number of amendments to the draft, the vast majority of them legislative in nature, seeking to make the law clearer. He added that some of them “were significant.”
He said that with one of the amendments, regulations governing the work of the Supreme Court would be determined by a president's order, rather than by the Minister of Justice. Another amendment – following a suggestion made by Andrzej Duda – stipulates that the head of state will ultimately decide which judges will remain in the Supreme Court after the adoption of the new law. Previously, this power also lay in the hands of the Minister of Justice.
“We also propose an amendment, according to which the Sejm, by a 3/5 majority vote, will appoint members of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS) from among the judges,” added Piotrowicz.
Budka's criticism
The draft of the new law was criticized by Civic Platform (PO) MP Borys Budka. He accused PiS lawmakers of being “mentally stuck in the People's Republic,” of “trying to stifle Polish democracy” and of “dividing the nation.”
“There is no reform, there is one big lie, hypocrisy and manipulation. For nearly two years, public opinion has been subjected to a campaign of lies, which you spout every day. Unfortunately, instead of reforming Polish courts, you are proposing a model that harks back to the times of the People's Republic,” said Budka, addressing PiS politicians.
“The Sejm, Senate and president all belong to you, and you want the Supreme Court, too. You don't want all this power to make life better for the Polish people, but only to acquit your buddies and possibly to invalidate the coming elections,” declared the Civic Platform MP.
Turning to the Chairman of PiS, Jarosław Kaczyński, Budka said: “You are an extraordinary individual, because whenever you change your views, you have an onset of amnesia, which you have been able to trigger at the right moment. As long as the late Lech Kaczyński was alive, you did not dare raise your hand against the judicial branch, because, fortunately, someone understood what the tripartite separation of power was all about. With this legislative act, this package of laws, you are trying to suppress Polish democracy.”
“You attacked him, you murdered him, you scoundrels”
Jarosław Kaczyński responded to these words by saying: “Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, I just want to say a few words informally. I know that you are afraid of the truth, but do not wipe your treacherous mouths with the name of my late brother, you attacked him, you murdered him, you scoundrels,” said the leader of PiS.
After his speech, Nowoczesna MP Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz filed a motion for a recess.
“What has just happened in this room breaks all possible rules. You want to wipe out democracy in three minutes. Chairman Kaczyński takes the floor in a form unknown in the Polish Sejm, violating the procedures, and, as he steps off the rostrum, he says offensive words to a woman, a member of Parliament, telling her to “get lost”. We have been elected by the sovereign, just like you,” she said.
“You are making the same mistake again: you are restricting public debate here, in the Polish parliament, so it will move to the street. This is your fault – what is happening. And this is the place for debate, here – even for the sharpest of parliamentary debates. Look, what you are doing to Poland, look around – these are scenes from Belarus,” added Gasiuk-Pihowicz.
Adam Szłapka (Nowoczesna) also motioned for a recess, to give Kaczyński, as he said, a chance to apologize. He added that as he concluded his irregular speech, the PiS chairman said “get lost” to Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz.
Ryszard Petru, leader of Nowoczesna, also appealed to Kaczyński to apologize for the words he had addressed earlier to the opposition. Petru filed a motion with the Ethics Committee to review the speech made by the leader of PiS.
Tarczyński and “physical assault” against the female MP
Cezary Tomczyk (PO) said that PiS MP Dominik Tarczyński “physically assaulted” Kinga Gajewska, a female MP from the Civic Platform (PO). According to statements posted during the recess by MPs on social media, Tarczyński grabbed a mobile phone from the MP, who was recording with it the speech made by the chairman of PiS.
Tomczyk submitted a motion to adjourn the debate for seven days, until the “incident” has been clarified.
“I demand in my own name and in the name of my constituents that Chairman Kaczyński apologize for these scandalous words, spoken from this podium,” said the MP.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Joachim Brudziński (PiS) explained that Kaczyński made his speech as a corrigendum. “His name was mentioned by Mr. Borys Budka,” said Brudziński.
Motions against an adjournment were submitted by PiS MPs: Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ryszard Terlecki and Iwona Arent. Finally, 224 MPs voted to continue the debate, 174 voted against, and two abstained.
During the session of the Sejm, Nowoczesna MP Witold Zembaczyński (he can be seen approaching the chairman of PiS before the scuffle) explained that Kaczyński wanted to tell him something. “The chairman called me and wanted to tell me something, but it was incomprehensible gibberish. This man cannot control his emotions. He is shaking, foaming, shouting that I allegedly said something about him,” said Zembaczyński.
“I told him just one sentence: Mr. Chairman, you cannot live solely on the fuel of hatred. I am not responsible for Smoleńsk, I am not responsible for the sins you want to charge the opposition with today. Calm down, do not go into this,” said the MP. “Emotions simply took over Jarosław Kaczyński,” he added.
He stated that “the Chairman was surrounded by his colleagues. They created a human wall around him. In this gigantic chaos, the only thing I could see was that the Chairman himself was shaking with emotion,” said Zembaczyński.
Proposal of a lawsuit
Former Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz commented on Kaczyński's words by saying that “these were shameful words and I think that if we file a class action, we will meet in court.”
“This man has gone mad with hatred, this man can no longer control his emotions and this is the worst thing. Because these bad emotions that rule him determine what happens to 38 million Poles. This man with his bad emotions infects his followers,” she added.
After the meeting, PiS MP Tarczyński also commented on the events in the Sejm. “Strong emotions are at play and I think these emotions need to calm down. If we all care about the good of Poland and about our work. Everything will be all right,” he said.
Źródło: tvn24.pl/tłumaczenie Intertext.com.pl