"We are counting on KO and the Left"
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced a constitutional reset in the face of the dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal. On Friday, he said in the Sejm that a public hearing and social consultations were to be organized in the coming days. PSL is also starting to collect signatures for the project. A special team will be created in parliament that will cooperate with all political circles.
The PSL leader argued that the initiative was not only a project of his party, but already had the "support of the coalition".
We already have support in the coalition. This is not just a PSL initiative. The idea has already been supported by MPs from the Poland 2050 club, as well as the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, the leader and creator of this movement. There are 47 MPs in total. I think that some non-attached Members will also join. I am also pleased with the conversation with Sławomir Mentzen, president of Nowa Nadziea and leader of the Confederation. I see a chance for good cooperation within this project, said Kosiniak-Kamysz.
He added that PSL also counts on the support of the other coalition partners. We are open primarily to our coalition partners. We are counting on KO and the Left, he noted.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the initiative is intended to help reduce political and social tension.
Today we elected judges. However, emotions and social anxiety are so high and external threats so serious that it is necessary to look for a solution that will de-escalate the situation, as the Prime Minister called for. Our reset is the most de-escalating solution among all that can be taken, argued the head of the Ministry of National Defense.
Kosiniak-Kamysz will fly to the USA. This includes: for a permanent US military base
During Friday's conference, the head of the Ministry of National Defense also referred to the planned visit to the United States. One of the topics of the talks is to be the creation of a permanent US military base in Poland.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the departure would take place in the coming days. If no obstacles arise, it will fly to the United States at the beginning of next week.
If everything goes well, and the dynamics in the United States is also quite high, I will be in the United States at the beginning of next week, announced the Deputy Prime Minister.
What does the constitutional reset involve?
On Thursday, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz presented a draft bill amending the constitution, which he called a "constitutional reset". He also appealed to opposition groups declaring their readiness to change the constitution - Confederation and Development Plus - to support the initiative.
The draft provides that the National Assembly could - upon a justified request of the National Council of the Judiciary - determine the permanent inability of the Constitutional Tribunal to perform its tasks. This would require a majority of at least 3/5 of the statutory number of members of the National Assembly, i.e. 336 parliamentarians.
After making such a decision, the National Assembly would elect a new, 15-member Constitutional Tribunal. The vote would take place simultaneously, and the candidates would serve terms of 3, 6 and 9 years, respectively. A 3/5 majority would also be required to elect judges.
The candidates would be nominated by the Speaker of the Sejm, after seeking the opinion of, among others, the first presidents of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court and obtaining the prior consent of the president. On the day of the election of the new bench, the terms of office of the current Constitutional Tribunal judges who would retire would expire.
To introduce a draft amendment to the constitution, signatures of at least 92 MPs are required. The PSL club currently has 32 members of parliament, so Kosiniak-Kamysz is seeking the support of other groups. He is counting on Poland 2050 and other coalition partners, as well as Confederation and Rozwoju Plus.
The mere adoption of a constitutional amendment would require a 2/3 majority of votes in the Sejm and an absolute majority in the Senate.
The Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, was skeptical about the PSL proposal and expressed doubts about the possibility of amending the constitution during the current parliamentary term. The Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, said that a "reset" could be discussed, provided that it does not lead to the work of the Constitutional Tribunal being hampered.
Development Plus MPs submitted their own project of a "constitutional reset" at the beginning of October.
