At 9:00 AM, a press conference will be held in the Sejm with the participation of the chairman of the PiS parliamentary club, Mariusz Błaszczak, and MPs Marlena Maląg and Przemysław Czarnek.

At 10:00 AM, Prime Minister Donald Tusk will participate in the ceremony of handing over the Bethlehem Peace Light.

The government, at its sitting at 10:00 AM, will address the draft budget law for 2024, including a draft of self-amendments. Also on the agenda are the Project for the Strategy of Public Finance Sector Debt Management in the years 2024–2027, along with its update, and the Three-Year Plan for the Limit of Civil Service Appointments for the years 2024–2026.

The Sejm will resume its proceedings at 2:00 PM with the second reading of the draft resolution on establishing an investigative committee to examine the so-called "visa scandal." Subsequently, at 5:00 PM, a 30-minute voting block will commence.

Furthermore, at 10:00 AM, another Sejm investigative committee – tasked with examining the so-called "envelope elections" – will elect its presidium, and at 12:00 PM, the Sejm's Rules Committee will issue an opinion on motions to appoint members to the National Electoral Commission.

- We as the Monetary Policy Council tried to persuade the President to have some discussion about how the bodies of the National Bank of Poland function or cooperate, but unfortunately, he was not persuaded - stated Ludwik Kotecki on TVN24's 'Rozmowa Piaseckiego' program.

- The President should open all doors, show the documents that are relevant, important on issues that are being raised publicly, including by Mr. Mucha, but also by politicians. To truly show that there is nothing untoward here, that everything was in accordance with the law. If this does not happen, then it is indeed a matter for the relevant executive authorities to decide; the prosecutor's office is an executive authority - stated Ludwik Kotecki on TVN24's program "Rozmowa Piaseckiego".

- The coalition of vengeance and chaos, after just a few days in power, proves it has no idea how to govern. Consequently, it's focusing on spectacle. Employees are being dismissed from various offices, often in a humiliating manner. An example of this is the dismissal of the Małopolska Superintendent of Education, Ms. Nowak, during a press conference, intended to humiliate her. The same is happening in various ministries. Just yesterday, a general was dismissed from the Ministry of National Defence, a general who distinguished himself with his firm stance in the autumn of 2021, defending the border against the hybrid attack from Belarusian territory. And we are also witnessing another trend, a tendency by the coalition of chaos to attribute the merits of the PiS government to themselves - stated Mariusz Błaszczak at a press briefing in the Sejm.

- We are also dealing with an attempt to break the law. The proponents of the rule of law during the election campaign are now trying to break the law. I mean the Minister of Justice, Bodnar, who is trying to change constitutional provisions by ordinance, or we hear that resolutions will be adopted that are aimed at public media, and thus, through resolutions, they will try to terminate the term of office of the National Media Council. This is an evident example of breaking the law, the rule of law, an example of carrying out a takeover of public media. If they want to make changes in public media, they should do it through legislation. But they are trying to bypass the President, to force through changes to the National Media Council by brute force - stated Mariusz Błaszczak at a press briefing in the Sejm.

- With a resolution, this coalition of chaos and revenge can change its broadcast in its own room, it can turn off TVP Info if it wants so badly, based on a resolution. But if it wants to bring about a change in national media, a law is necessary, not a resolution - stated Mariusz Błaszczak at a press briefing in the Sejm.

- So, let's buckle up. New heads of services, including the CBA, budget adoption, the dismissal of Kurski from Washington – that's for starters today. It's going to be a long day – Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter.

No to zapinamy pasy. Nowi szefowie służb, w tym CBA, przyjęcie budżetu, odwołanie Kurskiego z Waszyngtonu - to na początek dnia. Długiego dnia.

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) December 19, 2023

Dariusz Joński has been elected as the chairman of the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the so-called "envelope elections." Ten MPs voted in favour, with no votes against and one abstention. Jacek Karnowski, Bartosz Romowicz, and Waldemar Buda were elected as deputy chairmen.

A group of MPs has submitted a private member's bill to the Sejm concerning the restoration of legal order, impartiality, and reliability of public media and the Polish Press Agency.

The proposal is co-signed by MPs from Civic Platform (KO), the Polish People's Party (PSL), Poland 2050, and The Left. Bogdan Zdrojewski is the representative of the initiators.

Projekt ws mediów publicznych już dostępny https://t.co/AXu439rvP6 pic.twitter.com/rMgcPMebzX

— Michał Olech (@MichalOlech) December 19, 2023

A parliamentary draft resolution concerning the removal of the consequences of the constitutional crisis in the context of the systemic position and functions of the National Council of the Judiciary in a democratic state of law has been submitted to the Sejm – Krzysztof Paszyk is the representative of the initiators.

Jest też projekt uchwały ws KRS pic.twitter.com/NOkwbDOiqF

— Michał Olech (@MichalOlech) December 19, 2023

- Will PiS MPs be there? You have immunity, will you protect public media? - Łukasz A. Jankowski asked on Radio Wnet.

- If needed, we are considering that too - Radosław Fogiel replied.

- So, will you, Mr. MP, throw yourself in the doorway at Woronicza like Rejtan? - the host pressed.

- We will act as the situation requires of us. We have our tools, we have those tools that stem from holding a parliamentary mandate. We also have the ability to communicate clearly, because here we are indeed dealing with a dual situation. On the one hand, it might be about an attempt to physically take over the media... - stated the PiS MP.

- And in that case, will PiS MPs physically protect public television? - Jankowski asked.

- I won't say anything specific today, because these will be decisions ahead of us, depending on how the situation develops. It's not about talking, it's about doing - Fogiel responded.

- Today we will most likely address the resolution concerning the situation in public media. Tomorrow, if the Sejm so wishes, we will deal with other important matters, a resolution concerning the situation in the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS). As I say, this is the Marshal's proposal, and I assume it will be discussed at the Presidium. I expect protests at the convention. In such situations, when there is a dispute, the Plenary Hall, the Sejm, decides - stated Szymon Hołownia at a press conference.

- A lot will happen during this session. Two oaths, the oath of Mrs. Anna Baluch, MP, it will open our proceedings. Tomorrow, most likely, the oath of the new Children's Ombudsman will be taken, that will also happen before the Sejm. So, two oaths, three bills. Firstly, a bill to extend decisions for persons with disabilities, this is a serious neglect by the previous team as well, which we must rectify. The fact that it wasn't done earlier, it must be done quickly. The Senate is waiting for it. The second bill is on supporting mining. I've told you about it before, this is also a legacy that remained with us from the times when the Sejm was not functioning for 2.5 months - stated Szymon Hołownia at a press conference.

- And finally, Thursday, the first reading of the budget bill, which, as I understand it, will shortly be submitted to the Sejm by the new government of Donald Tusk. This first reading, which we have planned for the whole of Thursday, must take place and be concluded so that we can work on the budget in committees during the inter-holiday period. A very precise schedule for work on the budget bill. We all know how important it is. We want to finish before the end of January, and we will - he added.

- When we are ready to discuss this calmly, we will discuss it. For now, enough talk, we need to get things done, we need to act. Therefore, Mr. Braun remains excluded from the session. I hope it will not occur to him to show up in the corridors or the Plenary Hall. There is no possibility of that; the Marshal's Guard has been informed. There is no ban on entering this building, but he should not be in the Plenary Hall - stated Szymon Hołownia at a press conference.

- The motion regarding Deputy Speaker Bosak will not be considered today, nor during this part of the session. We are continuously awaiting an adequate reaction from Confederation, and we are in contact with the Prosecutor General. We are awaiting a motion to lift MP Braun's immunity. In my assessment, we should vote on it as soon as possible - he added.

- No actions will be taken here on the basis of turning someone's power off. I know some might perhaps dream of such spectacular martyrdom opportunities, but there won't be any, I assure you. We will discuss everything on which we have differing opinions. We weren't born yesterday, and we all know, the election campaign showed this emphatically, that in Poland we truly have very different opinions regarding the condition of public media, regarding the situation with the National Media Council – stated Szymon Hołownia at a press conference.

- We are not reinventing anything here; we simply want to discuss here in the Sejm forum, and therefore our actions concerning the National Media Council will be limited to what we will write in this resolution, which we will either adopt or not adopt in the Sejm today. No other actions are planned. However, this resolution expresses significant doubts we have about the functioning of the National Media Council – he continued.

- A resolution is not a statute. A resolution is an opinion of the Sejm on a matter, a resolution is an appeal that the Sejm can issue, but it does not create legal effects like statutes do. This draft contains a commitment from the Sejm, which I am very happy about, to regulate by statute the issues that were broken during the PiS government's rule, concerning the relationship with public media, and this commitment, if the resolution is adopted by the Sejm, will be taken very seriously – he added.

- We are implementing our scenario step by step, so today the election of the presidium. On Friday there will be a work plan and we will appoint the first witnesses in January. Immediately, evidence motions. We are going step by step. I understand that some MPs may, and especially PiS, will want to block this. In some way, discuss nothing for the next few hours. I will cut short these discussions. I will close the sessions if they are about nothing. However, we want to clarify and we want to do it quite precisely and quickly, and I spoke about this, but there is no room for these internal discussions. (...) This commission is tasked with hearing witnesses and preparing a thorough report, and that's how it will be – stated Dariusz Joński in the Sejm.

- We have a preliminary list, but we want the presidium to familiarize itself with it first. And above all, we must adopt the work plan. (…) In the resolution, we have at least two who are responsible: Morawiecki and Sasin. But surely, it's difficult not to notice that Jarosław Kaczyński also said in an interview that he is personally responsible. He made the decisions, so it’s also difficult not to invite him, and he will certainly be invited. We will be inviting Deputy Prime Minister Gowin, who opposed it then – Dariusz Joński said in the Sejm.

- We had talks on this subject [TVP funding], but they were not conclusive at the stage I participated in them. It is clear that we need public media in Poland, it is clear that not all reforms can be carried out just like that, we are not able to suddenly make these media a model of all virtues, impartiality, and also have their funding secured, and for this to be a stable project for years – stated Szymon Hołownia at a press conference.

- Every political grouping forming the October 15th coalition has its own idea on how to achieve this. They are often convergent, but there are also divergences. We will see what the government shows in the budget, what idea it has, and we will try to do everything from the Sejm's side to support all those who want real change in public media and for them to be able to come off the budgetary life support as soon as possible and start to sustain themselves with the help of appropriate regulations - he added.

- After discussion within the college for special services, and also after seeking the opinion of the President of the Republic of Poland, I made decisions, including two at the request of the Minister of National Defense, to dismiss the current heads of SWW, CBA, ABW, AW, and SKW, and today I also presented nominations to the heads of these services. With particular satisfaction, I would like to inform you that Colonel Dorota Kawecka will head the SWW; she has been in special services for exactly 20 years – stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press conference.

- Agnieszka Kwiatkowska-Gurdak will head the CBA; she has been in service for 19 years, formerly a police officer in CBŚ, and since 2015 in the CBA in Bydgoszcz. Colonel Rafał Syrysko will head the ABW; he has been in service for 31 years, worked in counterintelligence, internal security, and was an authorized representative in the former UOP. Colonel Paweł Szota will head the AW; he has been in service for 23 years. He also initially worked in UOP, and later in AW, in the operational department – he continued.

- General Jarosław Stróżyk will head the SKW; he has been in intelligence service for 32 years. His nomination probably does not require special justification either – he noted.

Minister finansów Andrzej Domański przedstawił na konferencji prasowej główne parametry przyszłorocznego budżetu państwa.

- Wydatki tegoroczne zaplanowane w budżecie na rok 2024 - 866 miliardów złotych. Przychody - 682 miliardy, co oznacza deficyt budżetowy na poziomie 184 miliardów złotych. Budżet tworzony jest przy założeniu 3-procentowego wzrostu PKB w przyszłym roku oraz inflacji na poziomie 6,6% - mówił.

- Obserwujemy wyraźne ożywienie w polskiej gospodarce. Cieszymy się, że rynki finansowe przyjęły zwycięstwo opozycji jednoznacznie pozytywnie. Spadają rentowności polskich obligacji, umacnia się polska waluta. Widzimy również po wskaźnikach wyprzedzających koniunktury, że gospodarka w przyszłym roku może rosnąć w tempie właśnie 3% i na tych założeniach opierały się nasze prognozy dot. wpływów budżetowych - kontynuował Domański.

- TVP and public media, even after the situation is restored, will face very serious savings. There is no reason for these billions that we want to allocate, as in the case of healthcare, where we are increasing subsidies. In total, considering contributions from premiums and our subsidies, we will spend 27 billion PLN more on healthcare than in the current year, and I stand by that opinion. There is no reason for TVP to cost Polish taxpayers billions of zlotys. Public media as they are currently do not deserve funding from the taxpayer's pocket at all. Therefore, we are prepared for potential public media funding after the situation is restored. For now, we do not foresee money for public media - stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press conference.

To budżet dwóch kieszeni. Do jednej wkładają, a z drugiej wyciągają. Wkładają nielicznym, a wyciągają wszystkim.

Kilkanaście procent polskich pracowników ma dostać podwyżki do jednej kieszeni, a z drugiej - już wszystkim Polakom - wyciągnięte zostaną pieniądze poprzez m. in.…

— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) December 19, 2023

- Public media should constitute an important fragment of Poland's national interest. They should serve as a model not only for conducting informational policy but also for fulfilling educational tasks and creating models of respect for the Constitution and a democratic state. I am not claiming, and I wish to emphasize this, that pro-government stance of public media must be a flaw, but an anti-government stance could have been assessed as such. Today, we have this state of affairs. However, one thing we should all be certain of is that partisan media, operating solely for the benefit of one political camp, is a threat, a peculiar crime against the nation itself - stated Bogdan Zdrojewski in the Sejm, during the first reading of the draft resolution concerning public media.

- For all those who have doubts. We do not want to deprive the nation of access to public media. We do not intend to shut down TVP. We intend to shut down TVPiS. We want to bring about a situation that is contained within the basic, elementary professionally practiced journalistic activities, meaning that the media should be objective, reliable, ethical, unifying, inclusive, diverse, promoting tolerance, high culture, and high values in culture as well – stated Bogdan Zdrojewski in the Sejm, during the first reading of the draft resolution concerning public media.

- The media resolution is an attempt to circumvent the law. You know that President Andrzej Duda would veto your unconstitutional laws, which is why you want to circumvent the constitution by passing a so-called media resolution in the Sejm. Poles did not grant you a mandate for changes in public media. Poles did not equip you with a majority that allows overriding a presidential veto. The resolution is not only not a source of generally binding law, but in this case, this resolution will simply be a source of lawlessness - stated Krzysztof Szczucki in the Sejm.

- The media resolution calls on Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz to break the law. It must also be clearly stated here that this resolution in no way justifies anyone who unlawfully attempts to seize public state media - he added.

- While not questioning the right of the parliamentary majority to introduce changes to the legal system, it must be emphasized that a political goal cannot justify the violation or circumvention of constitutional and statutory regulations – wrote President Andrzej Duda in a letter to Sejm Marshal Szymon Hołownia.

*****

"Considering the parliamentary draft resolution on restoring legal order and the impartiality and accuracy of public media and the Polish Press Agency (Sejm print no. 117), and guided by Article 126(2) of the Constitution, according to which the President of the Republic oversees the observance of the Constitution, I present the following position to Mr. Marshal.

According to Article 21(1) of the Act of December 29, 1992, on Radio and Television (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1722), public radio and television fulfills a public mission, offering, on the terms specified in the Act, to society as a whole and to its individual parts, diverse programs and other services in the areas of information, commentary, culture, entertainment, education, and sports, characterized by pluralism, impartiality, balance, and independence, as well as innovation, high quality, and integrity of transmission.

The role of public media in a democratic state is very important, as it is part of the realization of freedom of expression and the acquisition and dissemination of information (Article 54(1) of the Constitution).

It should be considered that the public assessment of the activities of public media is diverse. While not questioning the right of the parliamentary majority to introduce changes to the legal system, it must be emphasized that a political goal cannot justify the violation or circumvention of constitutional and statutory regulations. All public authorities are obliged to act on the basis and within the limits of the law (Article 7 of the Constitution).

The announced changes concerning public radio and television must respect democratic standards and be carried out in accordance with the rules specified in the Constitution.

On Wednesday, the parliamentary committee for state control will provide an opinion to the Marshal of the Sejm regarding the requests of the President of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), Marian Banaś, concerning the dismissal of Tadeusz Dziuba from the position of vice-president of the chamber and the appointment of Michał Jędrzejczyk, Piotr Miklis, and Jacek Kozłowski as vice-presidents. Further requests concern the appointment of two members to the NIK college.

Members of Parliament voted for a motion to immediately proceed to the second reading of the draft resolution concerning public media, without sending it back to committee – the second reading commenced immediately after the vote. In practice, the resolution will likely be adopted today.

- The first thing, the first reflection after the statements, especially from PiS representatives, should refer to this main message. This new head of television, who took office during the ruling camp's tenure, and so I will proceed, because this is the most important illustration (…) I don't know how much you have to disregard this nation, how much you have to hold it in contempt, to employ such propaganda which, in short, flatters the lowest tastes and tries by all possible methods to ensure that the nation, first of all, is divided, is scorned, secondly, is lied to, deceived, and this is accompanied by exclusions – stated Bogdan Zdrojewski in the Sejm.

- I maintain my public declarations regarding openness to dialogue and cooperation on matters most important to the Republic of Poland, including ensuring the reliable and efficient functioning of constitutional bodies. Proposed changes must stay within the boundaries set by the Constitution, both in terms of the procedure for their introduction and their compliance with the provisions of the Fundamental Law — President Andrzej Duda wrote in a letter to Sejm Marshal Szymon Hołownia.

- As the President of the Republic of Poland, to whom the Constitution, in Article 126, paragraph 2, entrusts the duty of overseeing its observance, I will never consent to undermining the status of judges appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland. The appointment of judges is a prerogative of the President of the Republic of Poland, to whom judges swear an oath, and consequently, judges are irremovable (Article 180, paragraph 1 of the Constitution) — the President emphasized.

Podtrzymuję swoje publiczne deklaracje, dotyczące otwartości na dialog i współpracę w najważniejszych dla Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej sprawach, w tym zapewnieniu rzetelnego i sprawnego działania konstytucyjnych organów. Proponowane zmiany muszą się mieścić w granicach wyznaczonych… pic.twitter.com/NELobeC2t4

— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) December 19, 2023

Serdeczne rozmowy ze sprawdzonymi przyjaciółmi Polski, premierami Kanady @JustinTrudeau i Wielkiej Brytanii @RishiSunak. Potwierdziliśmy wolę pogłębionej współpracy naszych państw, między innymi w kwestiach bezpieczeństwa, energetyki i Ukrainy.

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) December 19, 2023

Zbigniew Konwiński has been elected as the new leader of the Civic Coalition (KO) club. Borys Budka, who previously held the position of club leader, took over the Ministry of State Assets last week.

⁦@Konwinski_PO⁩ szefem klubu KO! Gratulacje ?? pic.twitter.com/QyoHFdq8jg

— Maria Janyska (@MJanyska) December 19, 2023

- It is high time to depoliticize and actually detach those people who have divided, sowed hatred, and dehumanized us over the past years. I truly wish you and yours that this television will not broadcast those tickers that divide and attack all of us during the holidays. This is not an easy process, because we know perfectly well what they are doing. They have barricaded themselves there at Woronicza, barricaded themselves at Powstańców in TVP Info. Security guards cannot allow anyone in other than those who are involved in this hate factory, so it's not all simple. Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz as minister has no easy task, but believe me, he is more determined than anyone else because people have had enough of this - stated Dariusz Joński in an interview with Monika Olejnik on the program "Kropka nad i" on TVN24.

- We won't say that, because, as the honorable MP said, there is such a meticulously prepared plan, a roadmap. One of the first elements is precisely this resolution, and we will consistently implement it. Please give us a moment, because the new government has been in office for four days. We simply cannot publicize our strategic plans for regaining public media for the citizens - stated Tomasz Trela on TVN24's 'Kropka nad i' program.

- We are facing the realization of the dreams and needs of many Polish women and men, who repeatedly pointed out during the election campaign that public media behave like public media, with an association to another profession, which is also public - stated Anna Maria Żukowska in an interview with Bogdan Rymanowski on the program "Gość Wydarzeń" on Polsat News.

- Speaking precisely, I said that we are not ruling out a forceful scenario executed by the current government, meaning a forceful attempt to take over the media, based on a highly questionable parliamentary resolution, which I will elaborate on shortly, and I said that various options are on the table - stated Radosław Fogiel in an interview with Bogdan Rymanowski on the program “Gość Wydarzeń” on Polsat News.

- If unlawful actions were to occur, a Member of Parliament has the right to intervene, and the lady MP knows this perfectly well. She herself, or her colleagues, often used this right, not to abuse it. I am primarily focusing my statement on the fact that we do not rule out that today's stretched resolution by the Sejm is intended to be a pretext for a forceful scenario - he continued.

- Why is this resolution stretched? Because almost every word in it is untrue, as the Constitutional Tribunal's ruling is quoted very selectively and inadequately to the situation. It does not concern the current legal status at all, and there are attempts to make the resolution binding for, for example, government members. Such a government member could be the Minister of Culture, and resolutions in Poland are not a source of law. All MPs know this - he added.

- It [the resolution] is a statement of fact, that things were bad in public media, that they were politicized, that they were the voice of one grouping. The voice of the government, in reality. In reality, they were government media - stated Anna Maria Żukowska in Polsat News.

- Yes, as I said, I know them, but I will not reveal them. I think it will happen [on Thursday, a new, refreshed edition of "Wiadomości" on TVP will take place]. I don't know if it will definitely be from the studio on Woronicza, that is information that has been made public, but if it is more convenient and less conflict-generating from another studio, then it will be from another studio - stated Anna Maria Żukowska on Polsat News.

- The only lawful steps are to complete the term and to allow the National Media Council to operate, so that things are as the legal provisions state. This is the brutal reality, and in democracies, these legal provisions are respected - stated Radosław Fogiel on Polsat News.

- I believe there will be further rounds of talks on this matter, on issues important for the state, on restoring the rule of law and democracy. I think that the President, as a patriot, also cares about unlocking the advance payments, and not just those concerning energy transformation from the National Reconstruction Plan, which contain these milestones related to the rule of law – stated Anna Maria Żukowska on Polsat News.

- I hope that the President is capable of reaching an agreement with us, that he will accept the arguments we present to him, and that, deep down, the President did not like the changes introduced in public media by Law and Justice, which caused it to cease being pluralistic television – she added.

259 MPs voted in favor of establishing an investigative committee to examine the so-called visa affair. 79 MPs voted against it. The next step – not today – is to appoint the committee's members.

The Sejm has adopted a draft resolution concerning the restoration of legal order, impartiality, and accuracy in public media and the Polish Press Agency.

244 MPs voted in favour, 84 against, and 16 abstained.