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Polish lawmakers reject bid to oust education minister

22.07.2021 10:15
Polish lawmakers have rejected a bid to oust the country’s education minister amid a bitter dispute over school curricula and accusations of cultural indoctrination.
Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek speaks during a session of the Sejm, the lower house of Polands parliament, on Wednesday evening.
Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek speaks during a session of the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament, on Wednesday evening.Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara

A total of 236 MPs late on Wednesday evening voted to defeat a no-confidence motion put forward against Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek by the opposition.

Meanwhile, 205 deputies supported the motion, and seven abstained, state news agency PAP reported.

The bid had little chance of succeeding because the country’s governing conservatives hold a comfortable majority in parliament.

The vote came after the opposition earlier this month accused Czarnek of leading a process of "cultural indoctrination of children and adolescents" and of "a lack of acceptance for diversity and freedom of opinion" in schools.

Conservative politicians including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki defended Czarnek in parliament on Wednesday, saying the minister was "a champion of freedom" who found himself under fire "only because he does not condone modern witch-hunts" and "resists political correctness."

"We will defend the right of our children to be educated without leftist indoctrination," Morawiecki told the house.

(gs)

Source: PAP