The opposition’s plan to seize power at all costs was scrutinized by Marlena Maląg, the RiPS minister and deputy head of the PiS club, in the first Polish Radio program as she commented on the developments around the election of the deputy presidents of the Sejm and the Senate and the members of the National Council of the Judiciary.
Earlier in the week, both chambers held their opening sessions, drawing the year’s first rounds of votes for speakers, deputy speakers, and secretaries. The PiS candidate for deputy chair of the Sejm, Elżbieta Witek, fell short of a majority, and Marek Pęk, the PiS candidate for vice-president, did not secure support in the Senate.
On Tuesday, Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz (KO), Robert Kropiwnicki (KO), Tomasz Zimoch (Poland 2050), and Anna Maria Żukowska (Left) were elected by the Sejm to serve on the National Council for the Judiciary. Still, four PiS nominees—Marek Ast, Bartosz Kownacki, Kazimierz Smoliński, and Arkadiusz Mularczyk—were rejected. These four had previously represented the Sejm on the National Council for the Judiciary. The ensuing debate was notably heated.
During an interview on Polish Radio, the Minister of Family and Social Policy was asked to reflect on the first session of the newly elected Sejm. When the host mentioned the heat inside the chamber on Tuesday, Maląg confirmed it was indeed “very hot.”
The new marshal, who will serve on a rotating basis, is expected to introduce new procedures. He will likely aim for calm, but Sejm rules already authorize the Constitutional Minister or the Secretary of State of the President’s Chancellery to participate in proceedings at any time for an indefinite period.
Maląg stressed that the time for speaking and the sequence of statements was determined by the marshal. She cited the moment when the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, Łukasz Schreiber, requested to speak, and the Sejm Chairman Szymon Hołownia allowed a three-minute statement, a practice that had been accepted in prior club sessions.
The minister suggested that the marshal’s role includes the responsibility to set these times, and she warned that this situation did not reflect constructive dialogue or solutions that would serve Poland well. She described the developments as the implementation of what she termed a total opposition plan to seize power at any cost. She noted that similar dynamics were visible on Monday, during the election of vice-presidents in both houses.
In a separate segment, PiS officials reaffirmed that Elżbieta Witek and Marek Pęk would continue to be the candidates presented by the PiS club. Radosław Fogiel, a PiS MP and head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, stated on Polskie Radio 24 that the party would not bow to any form of dictatorship. He reminded listeners that the forthcoming nomination decisions would reflect the Democratic majority’s verdict on October 15, a moment he framed as validating that the democratic majority supported Law and Justice and recognized the PiS club as the largest in the Sejm.
Fogiel emphasized that denying his club the right to nominate a preferred candidate while accusing them of censorship would amount to depriving over seven million Poles of representation in the Sejm Presidium. He warned that dictatorship of the majority is a phenomenon that can occur in any parliamentary setting, underscoring the balance needed to ensure pluralism and fair representation across political forces.
When asked whether PiS would consider candidates beyond Elżbieta Witek and Marek Pęk, Fogiel asserted that the candidates were those declared by the Law and Justice Club and by all parliamentarians. He reiterated the resolve not to act under anyone’s dictates.
[This report summarizes observations from Polish public broadcasting coverage and related parliamentary proceedings.]