Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, the two Law and Justice (PIS) MPs pardoned by President Duda from their convictions for abuse of power in an anti-corruption sting, have had their mandates extinguished by the speaker of parliament; however, they are contesting that decision and maintain they have a right to represent their constituents.
On Wednesday the two MPs managed to enter the parliament grounds but were stopped from entering the actual building because parliamentary guards closed the main entrance.
Kamiński and Wąsik were accompanied by their PiS parliamentary colleagues who clashed with the parliamentary guards when attempting to help the two MPs enter the building.
Interviewed by conservative news outlet Dorzeczy.plPiS MP, Dariusz Matecki said that his two colleagues should attempt to enter parliament every time it sits to demonstrate their commitment to attempt to serve their constituents.
Matecki said that the parliamentary guards, instructed to stop the two MPs entering parliament, had pushed and jostled PiS MPs and had been armed, something that was a first in Poland’s parliament, even though it has been kept quiet by the mainstream media.
He commented wryly that had this been happening during the lifetime of the PiS government, Western media and diplomats would be screaming about dictatorship and the end of democracy. “But today we have silence and consent to the violation of the rule of law just so that Germany’s lackey Tusk can continue to govern,” he added.
Matecki concluded by saying that the speaker Szymon Hołownia was violating the law and he should eventually answer for his actions before the State Tribunal.
President Andrzej Duda has said that parliament was improperly constituted, as Kamiński and Wąsik had not been replaced since the state electoral body was not taking that action despite the speaker’s decision. Both the constitutional court and one of the chambers of the Supreme Court recognize the two as still being MPs.
