The inaugural meetings of the Sejm and Senate of the new term are ongoing. Yesterday, both houses of parliament elected the marshals and presideas of both Houses. Law and Justice have an independent majority in the Sejm. In turn, the opposition has an advantage in the Senate. Many argue that this division could determine the nature of the current term.
„I don’t think I’m the only one who’s happy about how things turned out. If the Law and Justice has 48 mandates and the opposition has 51, then this outcome is the one the voters wanted” – says Jerzy Fedorowicz, Senator from the Civic Platform party.
“The chamber will finally cease to be a place where legal loopholes and violations of the law are taking place” – says Marek Sawicki, The Polish People party.
“When we say that there is total power, then there must be total opposition, and we will continue doing what we do best. Sometimes we may feel like we’re a total opposition, sometimes a bit less total, but we simply have to do our own thing with what we have. Maybe it will be a little easier thanks to the majority in the Senate” – says Zbigniew Konwiński, The Civic Platform party.
“Every democratic system is built on the checks and balances rule. This internal balance was disrupted for the last 4 years, since the Law and Justice had majority both in the Sejm and Senate, not to mention their candidate had won the presidency. Today, this balance is brought back just a little bit”- says Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland
“The new speaker of the senate made us a promise, that the higher chamber won’t be prolonging all legislative processes by blocking new bills for 30 days. The future will tell, if he was telling the truth”- says Małgorzata Gosiewska,deputy speaker of the parliament, the Law and Justice party.