“Around thirty-something MPs from our political camp have resigned from party membership,” Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of Law and Justice (PiS), announced during a press conference. He stressed that the matter will be formally concluded on Tuesday during a meeting of the party’s Political Committee. “Everyone knew what signing meant and what refusing to sign meant. Various strange, and sometimes even amusing, explanations do not change anything. One could say that, in a sense, it is all over,” he added.
Thursday’s talks between Jarosław Kaczyński and Mateusz Morawiecki ended without an agreement, and politicians associated with the “Rozwój Plus” association decided not to sign declarations confirming that they would not participate in political organizations.
As a result, at 12:00 p.m. today, the chairman of Law and Justice (PiS) delivered a special statement.
Kaczyński: More Than 30 MPs Have Resigned
The Law and Justice (PiS) leader announced that more than 30 MPs had refused to sign the declaration and, by doing so, had effectively resigned from party membership.
“This is an important moment. Around thirty-something MPs – although the exact number has not yet been determined with complete certainty, this is the best estimate based on confirmed decisions – have resigned from membership in our political camp. Therefore, on Tuesday, the Political Committee will meet and formally acknowledge this fact. The situation is obvious. Everyone knew what they were expected to sign and what the consequences of refusing to sign would be. They made the decision they chose to make,” he said.
He also emphasized: “Under no circumstances do we want to part on bad terms, let alone with any stronger negative feelings. This is simply how events unfolded.”
“The issue is connected, on the one hand, with the association, but above all with a proposal that was made many weeks ago to divide our party. In these circumstances, we could not view the association as anything other than an element of that plan – a plan to split the party. The proposal came from a credible person who held a very important position within our party, and it was repeated in at least three lengthy conversations. Two of them took place one-on-one. The third involved three party activists, and there were also two people from outside politics who witnessed it. Naturally, there could be no agreement to such a proposal,” the Law and Justice (PiS) leader stated.
Kaczyński also said that “signing this very simple declaration was nothing more than confirming that one would not participate in such an initiative. Since some of our colleagues chose not to do so, the necessary conclusions must now be drawn.”
He stressed that “the facts are obvious.”
“Everything the association was doing could just as well have been carried out within the party itself. In fact, such a proposal was made – either within a state policy working group or another internal party forum. Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected. Even though we made far-reaching concessions, including withdrawing our demand that the association be dissolved and asking only that its activities be suspended until the election, this was also rejected. Above all, however, the key issue is the decision that was made,” he added.
The chairman of Law and Justice (PiS) concluded by saying: “Everyone knew what signing meant and what refusing to sign meant. Various strange, and sometimes even amusing, explanations do not change anything. One could say that, in a sense, it is all over. One final formality still has to be completed, because we abide by the party statute…”