Poland’s main parties are readying their lists of candidates for elections on June 9 to the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg, with some current ministers tipped to run.
While candidates have yet to be formally announced, speculation is rife in the Polish media as to who will be on the ballots, with current ministers among those tipped for European roles.
The leadership of Civic Platform (PO), the biggest party in Poland’s governing coalition, held a meeting on Wednesday to finalize their list. However, the party’s leader, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told journalists ahead of the talks that decisions had already been taken.
The head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Jan Grabiec, remained tight-lipped about the candidates, except to say that the list would contain “very strong candidacies and a very good representation to the EP.”
Asked whether any ministers would be leaving their posts to head for Strasbourg, Grabiec said many of them had done good work and that the most important thing was that “we have a strong team, both in the government and at the EP.” He added, however, that the Civic Coalition (KO), of which PO is the backbone party, had “great candidates for ministers.” He announced that a meeting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday would decide KO’s final list of EP candidates.
On Monday, Grabiec told news broadcaster TVN24 that there would be “not too many, but a few” members of the current government on the list. “It is no secret that some ministers will be among the candidates,” he said. “It’ll be fewer than a quarter of the ministers.”
Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna told TVN24 she would not be running for an MEP seat, while Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz told Polsat a month ago that media speculation about him running for Strasbourg was unfounded, going on to describe the EP as a “political elephants’ graveyard.”
Among the possible candidates from the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), is the former interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński. Kamiński was at the center of a major political sensation earlier in the year when he was pardoned by President Andrzej Duda for having been imprisoned for entrapment when he headed the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Jan Grabiec, remained tight-lipped about the candidates, except to say that the list would contain “very strong candidacies and a very good representation to the EP.”
Asked whether any ministers would be leaving their posts to head for Strasbourg, Grabiec said many of them had done good work and that the most important thing was that “we have a strong team, both in the government and at the EP.” He added, however, that the Civic Coalition (KO), of which PO is the backbone party, had “great candidates for ministers.” He announced that a meeting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday would decide KO’s final list of EP candidates.
On Monday, Grabiec told news broadcaster TVN24 that there would be “not too many, but a few” members of the current government on the list. “It is no secret that some ministers will be among the candidates,” he said. “It’ll be fewer than a quarter of the ministers.”
Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna told TVN24 she would not be running for an MEP seat, while Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz told Polsat a month ago that media speculation about him running for Strasbourg was unfounded, going on to describe the EP as a “political elephants’ graveyard.”
Among the possible candidates from the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), is the former interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński. Kamiński was at the center of a major political sensation earlier in the year when he was pardoned by President Andrzej Duda for having been imprisoned for entrapment when he headed the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Kamiński told radio station RMF FM on Wednesday that he had been recommended by his local PiS office and that a decision would be taken by the party’s leadership shortly. PiS is expected to announce its candidates following talks on Thursday.
Kamiński told RMF FM: “I do not rule out that if such an offer is confirmed by the PiS leadership, I will take it, because I do not want to let myself be eliminated from public life and I have the support of voters.”
Kamiński lost his seat in the Polish parliament as a result of his conviction.
The Polish Press Agency learned unofficially that the PiS list would include former deputy foreign minister Anna Fotyga and former deputy justice minister Patryk Jaki, both of whom are currently MEPs, though PiS MEPs who will not be running for re-election include Beata Mazurek, Elżbieta Kruk, and Grzegorz Tobiszowski.
The center-right Poland 2050 party and the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL), grouped within the ruling coalition as the Third Way, have announced they will run together for the European Parliament. They said only that their joint candidate list would be ready by the end of the week.
Kamiński told RMF FM: “I do not rule out that if such an offer is confirmed by the PiS leadership, I will take it, because I do not want to let myself be eliminated from public life and I have the support of voters.”
Kamiński lost his seat in the Polish parliament as a result of his conviction.
The Polish Press Agency learned unofficially that the PiS list would include former deputy foreign minister Anna Fotyga and former deputy justice minister Patryk Jaki, both of whom are currently MEPs, though PiS MEPs who will not be running for re-election include Beata Mazurek, Elżbieta Kruk, and Grzegorz Tobiszowski.
The center-right Poland 2050 party and the Polish Peoples’ Party (PSL), grouped within the ruling coalition as the Third Way, have announced they will run together for the European Parliament. They said only that their joint candidate list would be ready by the end of the week.
Source: TVP World, PAP, Dziennik.pl, doxa.fm
More In Politics MORE...
