National Assembly must receive presidential swearing-in on time: Deputy PM

Although the Lower House meeting scheduled for August 7 has been postponed for one week and the Senate meeting planned for August 4-7 adjourned to August 11-13, the presidential swearing-in must take place on August 6 before both of the Houses forming the National Assembly in order to ensure that the second tenure of President Andrzej Duda begins.

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Referring to the changes in the date of the Lower House sitting, Deputy PM and State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin said that the National Assembly must take place timely and that “there is no room for postponement. The presidential swearing-in must take place.”

The Deputy PM also expressed his regret at the opposition’s announcement of a boycott of the swearing-in.

“There are rules that in a democratic state should be obeyed by all politicians. The fundamental rule is respecting the nation’s choice, society’s choice,” said the official, adding that “an attempt at claiming that Andrzej Duda’s victory in the presidential elections is null and void, that it can be questioned is not only irresponsible but also strikes against the rule of democracy. I appeal to the opposition’s politicians to veer from that path.” Mr Sasin also felt that the path followed by the opposition led to anarchy.

The Deputy PM dubbed the planned post-election government reconstruction a “new opening”. “We need a new opening because many challenges lie before us and before Poland. We need tools for efficient governance,” he said.

The news about the postponement of the Lower House’s sitting from August 7 to August 14 was announced by the Lower House Information Centre's head Andrzej Grzegrzółka on Twitter on Monday evening.

"During the evening sitting of the Presidium of the Sejm, the Speaker [Elżbieta Witek] announced the changed date of the 16th session. The work of the lower house was postponed from August 7 to 14," Grzegrzółka tweeted.

The decision followed the announcement that Polish Coalition-Polish People’s Party senator Jan Filip Libicki has tested coronavirus positive which resulted in the postponement of the Senate sitting.