Live Feed

10/26/2019

14:02

President's Spokesperson Got Carried Away: No Decision Yet on the Elder Marshal of the Sejm
"Senator Borys-Damięcka will certainly be the Elder Marshal of the Senate, as she is the oldest senator. As for the Elder Marshal of the Sejm, I would bet on MP Śledzińska-Katarasińska. She is the oldest MP. It might happen for the first time in history that two women will be Elder Marshals," said the President's spokesperson on RMF FM on October 18th. According to 300POLITYKA's interlocutors from the Presidential Palace, the presidential minister got carried away, and the media omitted the word "I would bet" from Spychalski's statement about MP Śledzińska-Katarasińska in their reports. The President was reportedly upset with his spokesperson for speculating about decisions that have not yet been made, we hear. The President has received a list of the 10 oldest MPs from whom he will make his choice. "The President wants someone with a distinguished opposition record, like Kornel Morawiecki, whom Andrzej Duda appointed as the Elder Marshal of the Sejm in 2015, to be the Elder Marshal of the Sejm 30 years after the 1989 breakthrough," adds our interlocutor from the President's circle. Interlocutors from the Presidential Palace point out the awkwardness that would arise from appointing an MP from Civic Platform (PO) to the prestigious, albeit purely titular, position of Elder Marshal, an MP who has repeatedly faced accusations of participating in the antisemitic witch hunt in 1968. She was one of the individuals named in Michał Zadara's acclaimed play "Justice," which was shown at the Powszechny Theatre on the anniversary of the March events. "The President is very sensitive to this matter," adds our interlocutor. The head of state's spokesperson himself confirms to 300POLITYCE that the media too hastily gave a binding character to his statement, which was speculative, referring to a possible option, and no decision has been made yet.