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Former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński and security forces: Scuffle in front of the parliament in Warsaw

Photo: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl / REUTERS

First the two PiS politicians Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik were convicted, then they were pardoned. Since then, there has been a debate in Poland about whether they should be allowed to enter parliament. When the two tried to gain access to the plenary hall of the Sejm, the more important of the two parliamentary chambers in Warsaw, there was a physical confrontation with the parliamentary guard. This was reported by the news channel TVN24. Kamiński, Wąsik and other opposition politicians were therefore given the opportunity to observe the meeting from the visitors' gallery. "We are MPs in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court," Wąsik told reporters.

Conviction for abuse of office

Former Interior Minister Kamiński and his former State Secretary Wąsik were sentenced to two years in prison in December for abuse of office. President Andrzej Duda then pardoned her. Several independent legal experts have come to the conclusion that the politicians automatically lost their parliamentary mandate with the final verdict and that the president's pardon does not change that. Parliament Speaker Szymon Hołownia from the Polska 2050 party also holds this view: “According to the judgment of the Warsaw District Court, Mr. Wąsik and Mr. Kamiński are not MPs, nothing has changed. They will not be allowed in, they will not vote and they will not take part in the work of Parliament," he said before the start of the Sejm session.

According to the Polish constitution – Article 99, paragraph 3 – no one “who has been sentenced to a prison sentence for an intentionally committed crime” may be elected to the Sejm or Senate. The PiS is nevertheless demanding the parliamentary mandates for Kamiński and Wąsik back. The dispute over this has become a central point in the dispute between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's center-left coalition and the PiS with its ally Duda in recent weeks.

col/dpa/Reuters