Andrzej Duda must elect the Senior Speaker of the Sejm. Controversial past of one of the candidates
Tadeusz Samborski is among the oldest members of the new term of the Sejm. The Third Way politician argued that he “never collaborated with the secret services of the Polish People’s Republic”, which is what he was accused of.
After the elections, the president has 30 days to convene the first meeting of the Sejm and Senate. The Sejm session will be opened by the senior marshal, whom Andrzej Duda will choose from among the oldest deputies, but it does not have to be the politician who is the oldest. The senior marshal will perform his function until the marshal for a given chamber is elected.
Andrzej Duda will elect the Senior Marshal of the Sejm. What was the situation like four years ago?
In 2019, the oldest MP was Iwona Śledzińska-Katarasińska from the Civic Platform, who was 78 years old at the time. Janusz Korwin-Mikke was a year younger than her, Dariusz Rosati was 73, Antoni Macierewicz was 71, and Jarosław Kaczyński was 70. Ultimately, the president chose the former head of the Ministry of National Defense. Duda’s then spokesman, Błażej Spychalski, explained that the head of state wanted the Speaker of the Sejm to be a person with a good opposition record.
This year, Śledzińska-Katarasińska and Korwin-Mikke did not get to the Sejm, and Rosati did not run. However, the mandate was won by 75-year-old Macierewicz, Kaczyński, who is a year younger, and Ryszard Terlecki, who is the same age as the PiS president. Eugeniusz Czykwin from the Civic Coalition is also 74 years old. A little further among the older people are also 67-year-old Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski from Trzecia Droga and 63-year-old Włodzimierz Czarzasty from Lewica.
Tadeusz Samborski about his past
Tadeusz Samborski from Trzecia Droga, who is 78 years old, also got into the Sejm. Before the elections, the politician was accused of cooperation with the Security Service. He took the case to court and won in the electoral process. Samborski previously issued a statement in which, in response to attacks from pro-government media, he emphasized that “he has never cooperated with the secret services of the Polish People’s Republic or any other, and I have never cooperated with the intelligence service, which was confirmed twice by the Lustration Court.”
Onet reports that Sambroski studied in Moscow and then was an activist of the United People’s Party – a peasant satellite party of the Polish United Workers’ Party. He was also a diplomat of the Polish People’s Republic. After the occupation of Crimea, Samborski celebrated the end of World War II in the company of notables from the Russian consulate. The person concerned himself explained that he took part in the celebrations as a representative of the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
Michał Seweryński is the Senior Marshal of the Senate
The situation is different in the case of the Senate, where the oldest parliamentarian automatically becomes the senior speaker. In 2023, it will be 84-year-old Michał Seweryński from Law and Justice.
