Mariusz Blaszczak, the leader of the parliamentary club for the Law and Justice (PiS) party, has formally submitted a proposal to the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, urging the restoration of parliamentary mandates for two senior politicians currently incarcerated. The motion targets the former interior minister, Mariusz Kaminski, and his deputy, Maciej Wasik, who were imprisoned on January 9, 2023, following a Warsaw court’s conviction for abuse of power related to a 2007 anti-corruption operation when they led the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA).
Upon the Warsaw court’s sentencing, Sejm Speaker Szymon Holownia revoked their parliamentary mandates. However, on Tuesday, Blaszczak announced that he had taken action by submitting a motion to the Sejm, “demanding it take action to enable Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik to exercise their parliamentary mandates.”
In addition to the parliamentary reinstatement request, Blaszczak revealed that the PiS club had notified the prosecutor’s office, suspecting Speaker Holownia of committing a crime by exceeding his competencies. Blaszczak hinted at potential motives for the swift takeover of the prosecutor’s office, alluding to the newly appointed prosecutor general’s removal of the national prosecutor.
Blaszczak also highlighted that his motion to the Sejm included a call for a change in the agenda to incorporate a debate “on the illegal imprisonment of MPs Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik, and the attack on the prosecutor’s office.”
On a separate note, Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar removed Dariusz Barski from the national prosecutor’s position on Friday, arguing that Barski’s appointment by the former justice minister under the PiS government was, in his opinion, “illegitimate”.