Friday marks the final day of the Sejm's session. The resumption of proceedings is scheduled for 9:00 AM, during which, among other items, the second reading of the draft amendment to the 2024 budget law is planned. Later, at 6:00 PM, a voting block will commence, lasting until 7:00 PM – at this time, the motion to reject the draft bill on abortion decriminalization in the first reading will be voted on.

Following the votes, information from the Ministry of National Defence on the report published by the Team for Assessing the Functioning of the "Smoleńsk Subcommittee" is scheduled, as well as information from the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General on the progress of investigations conducted by the prosecution concerning the Smoleńsk catastrophe.

Friday also marks the second day of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to Budapest for an informal European Council meeting. At 9:15 AM, a meeting between the head of government and French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled, followed by a plenary session at 10:00 AM, and a family photo at 1:00 PM.

At 9:30 AM in Rzeszów, President Andrzej Duda will meet with representatives of the Podkarpacka Hydrogen Valley Association and the Rzeszów University of Technology.

At 9:30 AM in the Sejm, a press conference of Civic Coalition MPs will be held regarding the request to summon Zbigniew Ziobro to the parliamentary inquiry committee on Pegasus.

At 10:00 AM in the Sejm, a press conference of the Team for Holding PiS Governments Accountable will take place with MPs Roman Giertych, Katarzyna Kierzek-Koperska, Gabriela Lenartowicz, Karolina Pawliczak, Małgorzata Gromadzka, and Barbara Dolniak. The conference will concern a notification to the prosecutor's office regarding the European Court of Justice.

At 10:30 AM in the Sejm, a press conference of Lewica will be held on the topic "Christmas Eve not at work, but with family! It's time to make December 24th a statutory day off!" with MPs Anna-Maria Żukowska, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Katarzyna Ueberhan, and Daria Gosek-Popiołek. The Sejm will address this draft bill at 4:30 PM.

At 11:00 AM in the Sejm, a press conference of the chairman of the PiS parliamentary club, Mariusz Błaszczak, and MP Paweł Szefernakier will be held.

At 2:00 PM, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Deputy Minister Paweł Bejda will participate in the signing of a contract for support vehicles for the WR-40 LANGUSTA multiple rocket launchers.

- Please note that 3 days have already passed, and the war continues. Politicians' statements should be viewed somewhat separately during campaigns and while in office. The war continues, a war that the Russian Federation is winning, a war in which President Trump is somehow in no hurry to have a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin - stated Jacek Siewiera in a conversation with Renata Grochal on PR3.

- It did not happen, that's new information for me [that Putin congratulated Trump]. It clearly shows that the plans declared during the campaign for internal use do not translate directly into the way politics is conducted in such a radical way - he continued.

He added: - I am counting on this process to be significantly more ordered, and certain outlines of a plan, which you, madam editor, have read among others, are a way of seeing the end of this conflict, which also has to impact both sides.

- He is certainly not recording videos, so we don't know much about it in the public sphere. He will certainly present this information, so I wouldn't want to pre-empt Minister Mastalerek's actions - stated Jacek Siewiera on PR3.

- However, it is undoubtedly time for backroom politics now, for the proper utilization of influence, contacts, and communication opportunities with President Trump's circle - he continued.

Sugerowanie przez opozycję zmianę rządu w Polsce pod wpływem wyborów w USA oraz donoszenie do sojuszników to kompletny absurd. O kształcie rządu w Polsce decydują tylko i wyłącznie Polki i Polacy.

— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) November 8, 2024

- The EU today is no longer such a superpower that it can impose trends on the whole world. Climate issues are very important, but the issue of the economic development of Poland and the EU is even more important. If we cannot afford certain climate issues, we must step away from them, and I keep repeating that the revision of ETS 2 is a necessity – said Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz on PR1.

- There is a growing understanding in the EU that we need to give the European economy a breath of fresh air. We need to have the strength and energy of the Polish economy in Poland, and this is not the moment to impose additional fiscal burdens on combustion engine cars, which we have no alternative for in Poland – she added.

- I am incredibly astonished, seeing how circles that call themselves sovereignist, fighting for Poland's tough independence, are suddenly applauding enthusiastically, chanting the name of another allied country, but a different country, calling for elections in Poland because Americans made some choice – stated Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz in PR1.

- These are unbelievably surprising colonial or, I would say, vassal impulses, that I cannot get over my astonishment at how one can behave in such a way and at the same time consider oneself a defender of Polish independence – she added.

- Today, such a motion will be submitted through the Marshal of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, to the Prosecutor General, and as a commission, we will expect the procedure to be carried out efficiently so that a court can ultimately rule on the matter. The motion for the detention and compulsory appearance of Zbigniew Ziobro will be sent to the court immediately after his immunity is revoked – stated Magdalena Sroka at a press conference.

- Today, through the Marshal of the Sejm, we will submit a motion to the Prosecutor General, then at the Prosecutor General's office, this motion will be checked for formal compliance and the Sejm will be asked to commence the procedure for lifting immunity – Magdalena Sroka said at a press conference.

- Subsequently, this motion from the Prosecutor General's office will go to the regulations committee, which will consider the motion, observing all deadlines, and only then will the Sejm decide whether Zbigniew Ziobro's immunity will be lifted. Once we obtain such consent, we, as the committee, will approach the court with a specified date to detain and forcibly bring Zbigniew Ziobro to the appointed time [...]. I think we should prepare for January rather than December – she continued.

- Mr. Ziobro has reason to fear, regarding the Pegasus affair, just as he does regarding the Justice Fund scandal. We will ask him all possible questions when he, likely under duress, finally appears before our committee — stated Marcin Bosacki at a press conference.

- Breaking news, this week the Warsaw District Court sided with us and imposed a disciplinary fine on Mr. Ziobro for his first failure to appear. We are awaiting the delivery of documents in this matter, but we already know that the District Court has fined Mr. Ziobro for not appearing before our committee, so his referencing so-called rulings from the so-called tribunal of Julia Przyłębska makes absolutely no sense — he continued.

- Tonight in parliament, in the voting block, there will be a vote on the Act on Civil Protection and Civil Defence. This is an important topic, a topic that the public expects to be enacted. In our opinion, the bill presented by the government does not meet the expectations of today's world. Civil defence and civil protection are extremely important issues concerning security. Unfortunately, this bill does not meet the expectations that the world places before us today - stated Paweł Szefernaker at a press conference in the Sejm.

- PiS wanted to appeal to the parliamentary majority to adopt the amendments we submitted yesterday during the second reading. We submitted amendments concerning the financing of the act. The current bill assumes that funds will be reallocated, taken from the modernization of the army, from the Ministry of National Defence. We believe that this is such an important topic that there should be additional funds in the budget - he continued.

- Secondly, we believe that the Territorial Defence Force (WOT) should be included in the civil protection system for peacetime. We also believe that local governments should have certainty that the actions they undertake, the obligations that this act imposes on them, will be financed from the state budget - emphasized the PiS politician.

- We appeal to Civic Platform, to the parliamentary majority, to adopt the good amendments proposed by PiS to the Act on Civil Protection and Civil Defence - he added.

- I have no intention of [commenting on the words] of Mr. Doctor, who should rather focus on medicine, as it apparently goes well for him - stated Jarosław Kaczyński in a conversation with journalists in the Sejm.

- He apparently wants to position himself in this reality somehow, but Mr. Siewiera is truly not a person whose statements I should comment on at all - he continued, commenting on the head of the National Security Bureau's words regarding Antoni Macierewicz.

- Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar today appointed an investigative team at the National Public Prosecutor's Office to examine irregularities in the functioning of the Subcommittee for the Re-examination of the Air Disaster of April 10, 2010, which occurred between 2016 and 2023 – it was announced in a statement.

Prokurator Generalny Adam Bodnar powołał dziś w Prokuraturze Krajowej zespół śledczy do zbadania zaistniałych w latach 2016-2023 nieprawidłowości w funkcjonowaniu Podkomisji do ponownego zbadania wypadku lotniczego z dniu 10 kwietnia 2010 roku.https://t.co/rLRRB91oZS

— Prokuratura (@PK_GOV_PL) November 8, 2024

- In my opinion, just like the first time, a few months ago, it was referred to committee for work. I don't think it will be any different today. It's always worth working on projects, because after the committee, they can be better than the ones that are sent to the committee - stated Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz in the Sejm.

- On these matters, everyone decides individually, there is no club stance, but as far as I know my MPs, if the majority of them either abstained or were in favour of further work, I think it will be similar now - the Deputy Prime Minister continued.

Oby autentyczna i szczera radość wszystkich którzy kibicowali @realDonaldTrump wyborach w USA, nie została ośmieszona i zinfantylizowana przez tych wszystkich którym wydaje się, że wraz z tymi wyborami można ogłosić polityczny koniec Tuska i całej jego bandy #13grudnia.…

— Joachim Brudziński ?? (@jbrudzinski) November 8, 2024

- I am glad that this decision has been announced [regarding the establishment of a special investigative team at the National Public Prosecutor's Office concerning the Smolensk sub-committee]. To be honest, it should rather be a large team of prosecutors that deals with Mr. Antoni Macierewicz, because there are simply countless matters concerning Antoni Macierewicz – stated Cezary Tomczyk in a conversation with journalists.

- 41 notifications to the prosecutor's office are likely just the tip of the iceberg, because each of these threads can be explored further, and I believe Mr. Macierewicz's situation is serious - he continued.

- Of course, he [Donald Trump] has his own agenda; our interests aren't identical. We expect there will be room for negotiating important interests, but Poland today is a country that has already signed and will sign huge defense contracts, that is investing in nuclear energy, so there will be things to talk about – Radosław Sikorski told journalists.

The Sejm did not adopt the motion to reject the parliamentary bill amending the Penal Code regarding partial decriminalization of abortion in the first reading, thus sending it to the extraordinary committee for the consideration of bills on the right to abortion.

The PiS and Konfederacja clubs, as well as 11 PSL MPs, voted to reject the bill. 17 agrarian politicians voted for further work on the project, and 3 abstained. The remaining parties of the ruling coalition unanimously supported sending the bill to the committee.

In the PSL club, Paweł Bejda, Dariusz Klimczak, and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz abstained from voting.

Those who voted to reject the bill in the first reading were: Marek Biernacki, Adam Dziedzic, Andrzej Grzyb, Mirosław Maliszewski, Urszula Nowogórska, Ireneusz Raś, Wiesław Różyński, Marek Sawicki, Zbigniew Sosnowski, Jacek Tomczak, and Bożena Żelazowska.

The Sejm, with votes from Third Way, Confederation, and a majority of KO MPs, rejected the motion to immediately proceed to the second reading of the parliamentary bill establishing Christmas Eve as a non-working day. The PiS club, Lewica, and the Razem parliamentary group, along with two KO MPs, Franciszek Sterczewski and Małgorzata Tracz, voted in favor of proceeding to the second reading without sending the bill to a committee.

The motion to send the bill to the Committee on Social Policy and Family and the Committee on Economy and Development was passed. Although a debate on the bill had already taken place, the vote was preceded by a series of speeches from MPs (more on this below).




Before the vote, Daria Gosek-Popiołek from Lewica spoke, urging MPs to proceed immediately to the second reading. "If this bill goes to, among other committees, the Committee on Economy and Development, headed by a great opponent of a free Christmas Eve, namely MP Ryszard Petru, then there will be no free Christmas Eve. Neither this year nor in the coming years," she said.

Ryszard Petru, who was addressed, appealed for the bill to be sent to committee. "This is a parliamentary insertion without cost analysis. There are industries that will gain from this and those that will lose. I appeal for reason, for analysis. Let's not do this the way the right side did, in a rush, like the Polish Deal," said the Poland 2050 MP.

Radosław Fogiel from PiS also spoke. "I propose that the committee chaired by MP Petru work on this project on the upcoming Christmas Eve and that the committee be obliged to complete its work before the 'Feast of the Six Kings' holiday. Of course, it is rather unserious to entrust the work on a bill so important to citizens to its bitter opponent," he stated.

The Sejm unanimously passed the act on population protection and civil defense, having previously adopted several amendments to it. 448 votes were cast 'for' the act, with no votes against or abstentions.

Before the vote, Paweł Szefernaker spoke. He stated: - During the PiS government, the then-total opposition did not support important security laws, such as the establishment of Territorial Defence Forces (WOT) or the construction of a barrier on the border with Belarus.

- This act has its flaws and weaknesses. We submitted many amendments to address these problems. Some of the amendments were adopted, while others were rejected by you. This is an act expected by Poles, which is why, as a constructive opposition, we will monitor its implementation and support it - he declared.