The Sejm resumed its sessions, and MPs appointed members of the Pegasus inquiry committee. The chair will be Magdalena Sroka from Trzecia Droga, with deputies Marcin Bosacki of KO, Marcin Przydacz from PiS, and Tomasz Trela representing the left. The Sejm will receive 2022 information on the activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights and the status of human rights and civil freedoms in the country.
Swearing-in of a new Member of Parliament
At the session’s start, Magdalena Łośko took the parliamentary oath, succeeding KO’s Krzysztof Brejza who moved to the European Parliament. This followed Radosław Sikorski’s transition to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Member of the European Parliament.
The Sejm also sworn in Mirosław Wróblewski as the new President of the Office for the Protection of Personal Data.
Selections for the Pegasus Research Committee
The Sejm elected the members of the Pegasus Investigative Committee, a panel charged with examining the legality, accuracy, and targeting of operational and reconnaissance activities conducted using the Pegasus software. The scope covers actions by the government, secret services, and police from November 16, 2015 to November 20, 2023. The commission is to determine who authorized the acquisition of Pegasus and similar devices by Polish authorities. It will also assess whether Pegasus operations against Polish citizens were legal, proper, and intentional.
The assembled names include Marcin Bosacki, Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, and Witold Zembaczyński from the Civic Coalition; Mariusz Gosek, Marcin Przydacz, Jacek Ozdoba, and Sebastian Łukaszewicz from PiS; Magdalena Sroka from PSL-Trzeciej Droga; Paweł Śliz from Poland 2050-Trzeciej Droga; Tomasz Trela from the left; and Przemysław Wipler from the Confederation.
READ ALSO: PiS will not nominate new members for the Pegasus investigation committee. Błaszczak remarks the coalition will not appoint their candidates on December 13.
Current Affairs
The Sejm will also review updated government information on irregularities in the expenditure of funds from the Justice Fund, at the request of the KO Parliamentary Club to the Minister of Justice. Ministers will answer questions on current affairs, including the protest by Polish road transport operators at access routes to the Polish-Ukrainian border crossings. The PSL club requested information on this topic. The Confederation Club intends to inquire about Polish-Ukrainian talks at the agriculture ministry level in relation to the bilateral trade agreement on agricultural products, while PiS MPs will raise concerns about the tough situation in agriculture caused by EU policies under the government led by Donald Tusk and the farmers’ protests on January 24.
KO MPs will question the head of the Ministry of Defense about the costs and activities of the subcommittee re-investigating the Smolensk disaster, established in 2016 and led by Antoni Macierewicz.
Members of the European Parliament will also receive updates from the government on the situation of older people in Poland for 2022, along with information on the Ombudsman’s activities and the status of compliance with human rights and civil rights and freedoms for 2022.
READ ALSO:
— The Sejm appointed a commission of inquiry into Pegasus, with the vote in favor reaching a unanimous position. The PiS amendment was rejected. [Citation: wPolityce]
— The coalition will pursue accountability. Tusk notes that the Kamiński and Wąsik cases are not over and may lead to further actions. [Citation: wPolityce]
— Adam Bodnar intends to establish a Justice Fund research team at the National Public Prosecutor’s Office. [Citation: wPolityce]
wkt/PAP
Source: wPolityce [Citation: wPolityce]