PiS expels 40 parliamentarians including former PM Morawiecki over Rozwój Plus split
The PiS disciplinary court expelled 38 MPs and 2 senators, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, for joining the Rozwój Plus parliamentary club. They have seven days to appeal.
Disciplinary court ruling
On Thursday, August 13, the Collegial Disciplinary Court of Law and Justice (PiS) decided to expel 38 MPs and 2 senators who had joined the Rozwój Plus parliamentary club, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Disciplinary spokesperson Karol Karski told PAP that the court found all 40 had gravely violated the party statute by leaving the PiS parliamentary club and joining a new one. The decision, issued on August 13, cited Article 39 in conjunction with Article 36(1) and (2) of the PiS statute, which requires candidates elected from PiS lists to belong to the PiS parliamentary club.
The 40 parliamentarians have seven days to appeal. If no appeal is filed, they will officially cease to be PiS members after that period, Karski added.
Morawiecki's additional charge
Karski emphasized that in Morawiecki's case the court made an additional finding: on August 3, the former prime minister publicly announced the creation of a new political party competing with Law and Justice. No such declaration was recorded for the other expelled members, Karski specified.
The court did not review the cases of three MEPs who are members of the Rozwój Plus association. According to Polsat News, Piotr Müller, Michał Dworczyk, and Waldemar Buda formally remain in PiS because the court determined they did not create a new club, as they sit in the European Parliament rather than the Sejm.
Origins of the split
The conflict escalated in July, when PiS leadership passed a resolution obliging party members to sign loyalty declarations and leave associations conducting political activity. Morawiecki refused to abandon his Rozwój Plus association. The Political Committee of PiS initially did not expel the Rozwój Plus members, instead referring the matter to the disciplinary spokesperson, a role held by Karski.
Without waiting for the decision, Morawiecki and his supporters established their own parliamentary club, Rozwój Plus, with 40 MPs. Morawiecki became chairman and Łukasz Schreiber vice-chairman. Rozwój Plus is now the third force in the Polish Sejm. The largest parliamentary club is Civic Coalition with 156 deputies, while PiS holds 147 seats.
- PiS leadership passes resolution obliging members to sign loyalty declarations and leave political associations
- Morawiecki publicly announces creation of a new party competing with PiS
- Disciplinary court expels 38 MPs and 2 senators, including Morawiecki, from PiS
- Civic Coalition
- 156 seats
- PiS
- 147 seats
- Rozwój Plus
- 40 seats
Reactions from Rozwój Plus
MP Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, commenting to Wirtualna Polska, said he had not yet received his own expulsion decision but was unsurprised.
This only confirms the earlier declarations of the party chairman and the disciplinary spokesperson. I regret that Law and Justice sees the source of its rapid success in throwing out the former prime minister and dozens of MPs. Nevertheless, I am not offended and I wish Law and Justice, despite everything, all the best.
He added that Rozwój Plus was focusing on preparing an attractive alternative to Donald Tusk's government, one based on a program rather than entanglement in emotions about statutes and expulsions.
One politician close to Morawiecki described the decision as a treat for absolute connoisseurs, saying such an outcome had been expected for a long time.
Law and Justice is in the same place it was a month ago, and we are already three steps ahead.
The same source remarked on the speed of the disciplinary proceedings, noting that PiS disciplinary courts had never operated so efficiently, with cases typically postponed indefinitely.
