Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski talks about the landmark parliamentary term, key decisions and challenges of leading the House in an interview with the weekly "Sieci". In an interview with Marcin Wikla and Marek Piza, he also talks about the 2016 protest and respecting impassable borders. Marek Kuchcinski also recalls his political path. Also in the interview, the Speaker of the Sejm's firm response to the insinuations contained in the publications regarding the morality allegations.
- Public figures are attacked in a less and less selective manner. I think we have to react', stresses Marek Kuchciński. In the opinion of the Speaker of the Sejm, people who have influence on the formation of public opinion must respect their word. - If such accusations are made in public, there must be serious evidence. In this case it is an insinuation made out of a finger,' he argues. According to Marek Kuchciński, this action was aimed at weakening the position of the Polish Sejm. - I have been exposed to various slanders for decades. Politics can be difficult, sometimes conflictual and provoking. This time, however, all boundaries have been crossed, which in the case of politicians are much more flexible anyway. It is one thing to have sharp - even very sharp - polemics and quite another to have lies and slander of the kind that were hurled at me. I decided that I could not let this go unchallenged, both for the sake of my family and the institution that I lead. If the work in parliament is disorganized or its authority is diminished, it will benefit our opponents at home and abroad who do not want us to make changes in Poland," explains the Speaker of the Sejm.
In the interview you are also asked about the key moments of the work of the House and the challenges and most difficult debates. - Certainly the most important ones, i.e. adoption of the budget and debates on the tasks of Polish foreign policy, or the most important reforms: judicial, education, tax administration, where we reduced CIT from 19 to 9 percent, pro-family programs with 500+ at the forefront, lowered retirement age - mentions Marek Kuchciński. He also speaks about minority proposals, which in his opinion have become less substantive in recent years. At the same time he admits that there were some interesting motions, justifying different solution to some issue than proposed by the government and it was possible to have a serious argument about them.
In the context of the events in parliament in December 2016. The Speaker of the Sejm expresses the opinion that these were parliamentary activities that were intended to distract attention from the bills under way. - And it was about, among other things, the budget and taking away high pensions from the secret police, and for this they still attack us today. Eventually it began to exceed the limits of seriousness in the Sejm," he says. According to Marek Kuchciński, it was a deliberate action disrupting the work of the Sejm, obstruction at the moment of adopting laws that are crucial from the point of view of the state's interest. - The Speaker of the Sejm is responsible for supervising and coordinating the work of the House. We cannot allow certain norms to be exceeded, because in a moment we may find ourselves on the border behind which there is only chaos', explains Marek Kuchciński. - Thinking about those events today, I know that the decision was the right one', he stresses.
Referring to another difficult moment in the current term of the Sejm - the protest of the disabled, the Speaker of the Sejm recalls that the participants of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, who were then visiting the Wiejska street, were surprised by what they found in the main building of the Parliament. - They understood that someone could fight for just causes, that the form of this fight could be firm, but the blockade of the building did not fit into their broadly understood democracy. They asked directly why we allow such freedom on our territory," he says. - This is unthinkable in many parliaments", stresses Marek Kuchciński.
The interview in the weekly is also a kind of journey into the past, through Marek Kuchciński's opposition activity and political path. - I was a very young, modest man who dreamed of living in a free country", he says. He points out that he was attracted to the political formation he is associated with because of its axiological system in which the human being is the main point of reference, but thanks to a strong state that works well. - But also the great spirit of Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, extraordinary people with a vision of Poland. At that time, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, this was missing," he explains.
Recalling his involvement during the communist period in "expanding the areas of freedom in the socialist world," the Speaker of the Sejm talks about, among other things, contacts with artists, scholars and philosophers from abroad, including Professor Roger Scruton. Marek Kuchcinski announces that he will soon be in Poland again - at the Parliamentary Summit of Central and Eastern European States, which will once again be organized in the Sejm and Senate in early June.
Source: weekly "Sieci", April 15 No. 15 (333).
Photo: Rafał Zambrzycki/ Sejm
