The MPs from the parties forming a governing coalition attempted yesterday to introduce legislation that would give them the power to remove MPs from the opposition parties under an excuse of a law violation.
The proposal assumes that a parliamentarian against whom a decision to apply pre-trial detention has been issued will not be able to exercise the right to emoluments. A parliamentarian covered by the abovementioned provisions "cannot benefit from social and living rights, such as the right to a salary or a parliamentary allowance." In other words, they want to lose their immunity, the right to vote, and the financial means to prove their innocence in a court of law.
"A deputy or senator who is deprived of liberty or against whom a decision to apply pre-trial detention has been issued does not exercise the rights and obligations arising from this Act."
The proposed legal provision was to be retroactive, too.
"The provision of Article 5a of the Act amended in Article 1, as amended by this Act, also applies to a Member of Parliament or Senator against whom a decision to apply pre-trial detention was issued before the date of entry into force of this Act."
Supreme Court judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz assessed that the repercussions of this law could be very serious:
This is the easiest way to change the Constitution, which is de facto a recipe for a coup d'état - arrest all opposition parliamentarians, for example on charges of participation in an organized criminal group, and vote in accordance with Art. 235 section 4 of the Constitution. What's up with the presumption of innocence - in a 'fighting democracy (*)' "you have to break free from the trap of legal formalism" - wrote the judge.
* Fighting Democracy - is what the Prime Minister calls the current situation in Poland.
PN: It is not an accident that this proposed legislation was introduced while everybody was celebrating a New Year. Nobody was supposed to notice how serious it is for the future of democracy in Poland.
- Based on reporting by Niezalezna(.)pl.
