“I was receiving messages saying that I became a Member of Parliament for this very moment, to do everything in my power to stop the Speaker from convening the National Assembly,” said Barbara Oliwiecka, an MP from the Poland 2050 party, in a television appearance.
On Friday, the Speaker of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, confirmed media reports that he had been pressured to participate in a coup. “On multiple occasions, I was either directly asked or it was suggested that I should be willing to carry out a coup d’état,” he said on Polsat News.
He added that these suggestions involved blocking or delaying the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected president. The Speaker emphasised that he firmly rejected these proposals. “But a coup d’état will not happen with me. As Speaker of the Sejm, I am obliged to respect the will of the majority of voters,” Hołownia stated.
It turns out that he was not the only one under such pressure. Barbara Oliwiecka, also from Hołownia’s Poland 2050 party, spoke about it on the same TV channel.
“Messages like that came to my parliamentary office, my Messenger, and my social media. There were many such messages: ‘do everything, do whatever it takes to prevent the National Assembly from taking place, to stop the swearing-in.’ I personally received messages, note this, saying that I became an MP specifically to do everything now to stop the Speaker,” she said, adding that she does not need to reveal the names of those who were urging her to take such action.
The statement by Oliwiecka drew a response from Karolina Zioło-Pużuk, an MP from The Left (Lewica). The politician stated that Oliwiecka is indeed not obliged to disclose who encouraged her to participate in a coup, nor is Speaker Hołownia. “But he is obliged to present this information to the prosecutor’s office,” she declared.
Andrzej Kosztowniak, an MP from Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość), also present in the studio, said that Szymon Hołownia “should, as soon as possible, go to the prosecutor’s office” and name the individuals who attempted to persuade him to commit a coup.