The Marshal of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, ordered the guards to block the entrance to the parliament for two Law and Justice MPs, Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik. There were scuffles with the MPs outside the closed doors of the Sejm. They managed to get inside but were not allowed into the session hall.
The ruling Civic Coalition and their Marshal of the Sejm do not recognize the Supreme Court’s ruling, which stated that Wąsik and Kamiński are still MPs, and the Marshal of the Sejm’s decision to deprive them of their parliamentary mandate is invalid. Marshal Hołownia argued that the MPs have been convicted, and the law does not allow convicted individuals to be MPs. However, both MPs were pardoned by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and under the law, they are not convicted individuals, thus they can be MPs.
The legal dispute has been causing great emotions in Poland for several weeks. The opposition even claims that all laws passed by the parliament may be invalid because the two Law and Justice MPs could not participate in the voting.
Scuffles outside the Polish parliament. Guards refusing to let Law and Justice deputies in. pic.twitter.com/CxrKdi8gum
— Poland Daily 24 (@polanddaily24) February 7, 2024