The leader of the Civic Platform, Borys Budka, blamed the unfortunate vote on salary increases for the most important people in the country, blamed the College of the Civic Coalition Club. Meanwhile, there were voices of opposition at the Club’s College, and the decision to vote “for” was not unanimous.
Borys Budka
/Tomasz Jastrzębowski /East News
Borys Budka’s situation as the leader of the Civic Coalition is becoming more and more difficult. A month ago in Interia, Senator Bogdan Zdrojewski demanded urgent reforms in the party from him. He gave him three months to do so, but Budka has to put out another fire. A fire that it ignited.
For several days now, there has been a discussion about the voting of opposition deputies on salary increases of the most important people in the country, including parliamentarians. In Friday’s vote, the vast majority of MPs from the Civic Coalition voted alongside Law and Justice. And this did not appeal to voters, because although PiS had put the bill to a vote, it seemed that the opposition had concluded a silent coalition with the ruling party.
After two nervous days, Budka withdrew from this idea. He recommended that senators vote against the bill in its entirety. The reflection came when the ground began to burn underfoot. Public opinion was outraged by the irresponsible behavior of all politicians, but mainly of the Civic Platform, which has been taking regular attacks since Friday’s vote.
At Monday’s press conference, Budka was asked who had the idea to vote together with PiS for raises for MPs. The PO leader replied that it was agreed at the “Civic Coalition Club College”.
Meanwhile, the KO Club College is a body composed of 15 people. Budka is the chairman and leader of the KO, and the college is made up of MPs from PO, Green, Nowoczesna and Polish Initiative.
As it turns out, no unanimous decision was made at the KO Club College. The Greens expressed their strong opposition through the mouth of their representative Małgorzata Tracz.
– At the Club College, I presented a clear position of the Greens. We consulted this project within the party and decided that this was not the time for such activities. Real problems, such as the fight against the coronavirus or the issue of the European Green Deal, are more important to us. I handed over our position to Borys Budka – says Interia Małgorzata Tracz.
The Greens remained consistent. Both Tracz and the other two MPs – Urszula Zielińska and Tomasz Aniśko – voted against the increases for politicians. As it turned out, it was a good decision.
– I believe that we behaved as it should be, there is no heroism here – adds Tracz.
However, the loyalty of the coalition partners was put to the test, and the situation inside the Civic Coalition is very tense – as our information shows. Will there be more tensions and due to the fact that the vote of the Greens is not taken into account, these deputies will leave the club of the Civic Coalition?
– Leaving the Coalition? There are no such plans, emotions must first drop. We need to talk about this whole situation in the KO Club. The Greens had a clear position from the very beginning and fortunately our senate club withdrew from supporting this project. We have a lot of topics to talk about, but you must not make rash decisions – believes Tracz.
The Green MP is about to talk to the PO leader about what happened soon. The Friday vote meant that the image and internal crisis in the PO rests on Budka’s shoulders. The more so as he made decisions despite the clear opposition voice of some KO deputies.
– We will talk to both Boris Budka and a wider group of coalition partners. Of course, we are part of the KO, but we are an independent party and we can vote however we want. We did so on Friday and it turned out to be right – emphasizes Tracz.
In Friday’s vote only nine KO MPs voted against. These are Tracz, Aniśko and Zielińska from Zieloni, as well as Cezary Grabarczyk, Klaudia Jachira, Franciszek Sterczewski, Monika Rosa, Michał Szczerba and Tomasz Zimoch. The latter officially demands that Budka step down as head of the parliamentary club.
Łukasz Szpyrka
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