Summary of the Month: MAY

June 6, 2018
4:25 pm

Wednesday, May 2

LETTER: Flag Day

Thursday, May 3

Przemyśl: Celebration of the 3rd of May Constitution. - The 3rd of May Constitution was the work of the Four-Year Sejm, but it was also the culmination of many years of efforts to repair the Polish state, the expression of collective wisdom of Poles striving to repair their country in crisis and the proof of the possibility to reach a compromise between the majesty of the Republic in the person of the King and the nation represented by the Members of Parliament and Senators," said Marek Kuchciński. The ceremony at the monument commemorating the Constitution was also attended by Andrzej Matusiewicz MP, Marek Rząsa MP, Voivode of Podkarpacie Ewa Leniart, Lucyna Podhalicz Deputy Voivode, Władysław Ortyl Marshal of the Voivodeship, Piotr Pilch Deputy Marshal and Robert Choma, Mayor of Przemyśl.

Przemyśl: The Speaker of the Sejm received the title of the Honorary Citizen of the City of Przemyśl. The Marshal assured that by creating and developing a new parliamentary policy aimed at the development of Poland in Central and Eastern Europe, within the framework of numerous international initiatives related to Visegrad countries and the Carpathian macro-region, he also aims to strengthen the role of Przemyśl. During the ceremony the Marshal was accompanied by Krystyna Wróblewska, MP, Anna Schmidt-Rodziewicz, MP Andrzej Matusiewicz, MP Andrzej Szlachta, Voivode of Podkarpacie Ewa Leniart, Vice Voivode Lucyna Podhalicz, Voivodeship Marshal Władysław Ortyl, President of the City of Przemyśl Robert Choma. Dr. Jan Musiał, former senator, delivered a laudation in honor of the laureate.

Monday, May 7

Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm

Tuesday, May 8 - Thursday, May 10

The Bureau of the Sejm
Senior Convention
62nd Sitting of the House. Passing the law on the Central Transportation Port and the law on supporting new investments, as well as amending the law on professional and social rehabilitation and employment of the disabled were the most important points of the third and last day of the 62nd session of the Sejm. The Sejm also amended the Act on Exercising the Mandate of Members of Parliament and Senators, reducing the MP's and senator's emoluments by 20%, as well as the Act on Personal Data Protection, amending the Acts on the Supreme Court, on Social Insurance Pecuniary Benefits in Case of Sickness and Maternity, and some other Acts, the Education Law, on Employee Pension Schemes, on the Conformity Assessment System and the Act on the Market Surveillance System, the Acts on PIT and CIT, on Supporting New Investments. Moreover, the MPs did not agree to dismiss Marek Kuchciński from the position of the Speaker of the Sejm.

Wednesday, May 9

Handing over the nomination for member of the National Labour Inspectorate to MP Agnieszka Ścigaj

Thursday, May 10

Mass at the Seminary Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph the Spouse for the intention of the victims of the Smolensk catastrophe
Laying flowers at the Smolensk Monument at Powązki Cemetery

Participation of the Speaker of the Sejm in the ceremony of presenting the award Kustosz Pamięci Narodowej. This year's winners of the Custodian of Memory Award are:Boguslaw Nizienski - lawyer, judge, social activist, Home Army soldier, Marlena Piekarska-Olszowka - President of the "Villa Jasny Dom" Foundation, popularizer of knowledge about the anti-communist independence underground after World War II, Anna Rastawicka - Propagator of the teaching of the Primate of the Millennium, The Polish People's Theater in Lvov - presenting for years the rich achievements of native culture and continuing the national theater tradition, The Association of Huta Pieniacka - bringing together survivors of the Pieniacka Steelworks, their families and individuals who make efforts to commemorate the victims of the crime with dignity

Meeting with MPs from Podkarpacie
Senior Convention
Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm
Voting
Meeting with Czech President Milosz Zeman. - I am glad that, together with the Czech Parliament, we share the same opinion on the development of the Union as a Europe of homelands, of sovereign states, and not as unified nations," the Speaker of the Sejm emphasised. Another topic of discussion was the increasingly intensive relations between Poland and the Czech Republic at parliamentary level. The need to reform the European Union and to strengthen cooperation between the parliaments of the Visegrad Group. The Speaker of the Sejm also drew attention to the activities undertaken at the parliamentary level to strengthen cooperation in the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe.

Friday, May 11

The Bureau of the Sejm
Senior Convention
Meeting with Vice-Marshal of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki and Director Jan Malicki
Meeting with the Marshall of Podkarpackie Voivodeship Władysław Ortyl

Saturday, May 12

Summary and conclusion of the Podkarpacie League of Children and Youth in Alpine Skiing - award ceremony

Sunday, May 13

Kraśnik and Puławy: meeting with the inhabitants within the framework of the action "Poland is one". During the meeting the topics discussed included "Morawiecki's five", proposals for the disabled, historical policy and local issues, such as the sale of a press bearing factory in Krasnik, housing cooperatives and allotment gardens. The Speaker said, among other things, that he would ask the President to veto the degradation bill. When asked about pensions, he said that now is a good time to think about changing the amount of the indexation.

The opening of the exhibition summarizing the International Carpathian Painting Triennial "Silver Quadrilateral" took place in the ARP Gallery in Krasiczyn Castle.", organized for the tenth time by the Contemporary Art Gallery in Przemysl. - The exhibition "The Future of Europe. Unity in Diversity" shows how people are different, and yet - how well they can cooperate, how they can unite around a common idea. We strive for such cooperation in the political forum of the V4 countries, the Carpathian Mountains. But of course, this cooperation is most beautiful in the fine arts, in music and literature. It can be best seen at the 'Silver Quadrilateral', which has been organised for so many years," said Marek Kuchciński

Monday, May 14

Meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Prime Minister Orban's first foreign visit after third consecutive election win - good conversation among friends about next four years of excellent Polish-Hungarian cooperation

Wednesday, May 16

Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm

Thursday, May 17

The Bureau of the Sejm

Friday, May 18

Speaker of the Sejm presented the "Courage and Credibility" Medal Romanian physician, social activist and chairperson of the Romanian Association of Catholic Physicians Anca-Maria Cernea - for courageous and credible promotion of Polish culture abroad and for contributing to the creation of a positive image of our country

Saturday, May 19

Participation of the Speaker of the Sejm in the inauguration of the Music Festival in Łańcut. - One can get the impression that music, as an art presented here, has ceased to be a form of chamber music, exclusively in terms of high culture, addressed to a narrow audience, but has become a certain form of life and influencing the life of the entire society, the nation. This is openness that gives opportunities and possibilities to all citizens of the Republic of Poland, to the listeners," said Marek Kuchciński.

Sunday, May 20

Meeting with residents of Jedlińsk and Koprzywnica boroughs. Marek Kuchciński emphasized that during 2.5 years of Law and Justice party's rule, the party managed to introduce programs and reforms announced in the campaign. He also referred to the recently announced programme of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, above all the proposals of the 'Accessibility Plus' package, which envisages the allocation of PLN 23 billion in the coming years for solutions facilitating the daily lives of the disabled, elderly and parents with young children. - These are proposals aimed at launching various activities in local architecture, in infrastructure," Kuchciński said. Sandomierz region is one of the biggest producers and exporters of apples in Poland. During the meeting with the Speaker of the Sejm the inhabitants asked for support for the centuries-old tradition of fruit-farming. They also talked about the improvement of infrastructure, the governmental road fund - 5 billion PLN, which will go to the communal and district self-governments - for repair and reconstruction of roads. The inhabitants were interested in building a bridge over the Vistula that would connect the Koprzywnica region with the Podkarpacie Province. The Speaker of the Sejm assured that if such a need was proven he would support it

Laying flowers at the Execution Wall commemorating those murdered during World War II
Placing flowers at the plaque commemorating the visit of the late President Lech Kaczyński in Koprzywnica
Dinner with the organizers of the meeting and parish priest Wiesław Surma
Opening speech at the 100th Anniversary of Independence Run

Wednesday, May 23

Prague: Meeting between the Prime Minister and the President of the Chamber of Deputies. The politicians agreed that Poland and the Czech Republic should first deal with maintaining the EU budget with regard to the cohesion policy and the Common Agricultural Policy. - We do not agree with transferring EU funds from Eastern Europe to Southern Europe. Poland and the Czech Republic should emphasise very strongly that they do not agree with such a move, because it will be at the expense of our countries and the Visegrad Group. We should speak with one voice in this matter - said Marek Kuchciński. The Speaker of the Sejm also met with the President of the Czech Senate Milan Štěch and with the Archbishop of Prague Cardinal Dominik Duka.

Saturday, May 26

Meeting with the residents of Nowy Sącz and Sanok. During the meetings the Speaker emphasized that Law and Justice party attaches great importance to pro-family policy. Within 2.5 years, the Law and Justice government introduced the Family 500+ program, free medicines for seniors, lowered the retirement age, limited Sunday trade, increased the effectiveness of alimony collection. In addition, he carried out a reform of education, tax administration, began a fight against wild reprivatization. The Speaker reminded that a few months ago Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the national convention in Warsaw presented a program of actions changing Poland. Among the demands is a reduction in CIT for small businesses from 15 to 9 percent, which is the lowest level in the European Union, the introduction of a small ZUS calculated in proportion to income for companies with a monthly turnover of up to 2.5 minimum wages, a layette of 300 PLN at the beginning of the school year for each student starting primary and secondary school, a new fund for the construction of local roads worth at least PLN 5 billion, which means thousands of kilometers of renovated roads in villages, small towns, municipalities and counties, and the Accessibility+ programme to eliminate barriers for the disabled (more than PLN 20 billion over 8 years)

Monday, May 28

Spring plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As the Speaker of the Sejm emphasized, the meeting was to assess the political and security situation and to define the tasks for the future, which will constitute our contribution to the July summit of the Alliance. According to Speaker Kuchciński, the analysis of the state of security of the Atlantic community does not fill with optimism. - In many regions traditional military threats have returned, and now this list is "enriched" by new ones of hybrid character and in the sphere of cyber security. We notice them clearly on the eastern flank of the Alliance - he said.

Tuesday, May 29

A visit to Sweden. During a one-day visit to Stockholm, the Speaker of the Sejm met with the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustav, the Speaker of the Riksdag Urban Ahlin, the First Deputy Speaker of the Rikstag Ewa Thalen Finne, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstroem and the Minister of Defence Peter Hultqvist. Marek Kuchciński recalled the solidarity shown by Sweden to Poland during the martial law and stressed the longstanding good relations between our countries. According to the Marshal, this is a good foundation for joint initiatives. The main topics of the talks were, among others, the issue of security: energy security - in the context of the construction of Nord Stream 2 - and in the context of defense against Russian aggression, i.e. the cooperation of the Baltic countries and NATO, as well as strengthening of the Eastern Partnership