English Section

Polish MPs approve gov’t motion for national referendum

17.08.2023 15:30
Poland's lawmakers on Thursday endorsed a government request to hold a referendum "on issues of national importance," including illegal migration, and were set to hold a final vote on the plan later in the day.
The Polish lower house, the Sejm, in session on Thursday, August 17, 2023.
The Polish lower house, the Sejm, in session on Thursday, August 17, 2023.PAP/Tomasz Gzell

MPs approved the motion for a referendum in a 233-211 vote, with eight abstentions, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

The ruling conservatives voted in favour, while most opposition groups, including the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), were against. Most MPs from the far-right Confederation group abstained.

The government motion then headed to the lower house’s law-making committee, which was due to draft a referendum bill for the house to consider in the afternoon, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

If MPs approve the bill, the referendum will come into force, the PAP news agency reported.

The referendum will be held alongside parliamentary elections on October 15, according to the government plan.

Gov’t proposes 'referendum on matters of national importance'

The governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has proposed putting four referendum questions to voters:

1) “Do you support the sale of state assets to foreign buyers, causing the Polish people to lose control over strategic sectors of the economy?”

2) “Are you in favour of raising the retirement age, including the reintroduction of a higher retirement age of 67 years for men and women?”

3)  “Are you in favour of dismantling the wall on Poland’s border with Belarus?”

4)  “Are you in favour of admitting thousands of illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa under the mandatory relocation mechanism imposed by the European bureaucracy?”

Heated debate

Outlining the motion for a referendum on behalf of the government on Thursday, Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said the proposed four questions were “extremely important for Poland and its future, and for the future of Europe,” and that this was "the reason why opposition parties are seeking to boycott” the vote.

The Civic Coalition’s Marcin Kierwiński said the planned referendum was “invalid” and “a means to illegally finance” the ruling party’s election campaign. He also questioned the wording of the proposed referendum questions.

Government spokesman Piotr Müller told the house that the Civic Coalition’s leader, Donald Tusk, a former prime minister,  was “afraid of the referendum like the devil is afraid of holy water” because "the voters’ answers could restrict his policy options if he returned to power," the PAP news agency reported.

Leftist MP Anna Biejat said the ruling party wanted to use the referendum to advance its election campaign, "funded by state money," and argued that a referendum "should be reserved for key policy issues." 

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz of the agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL) called the planned referendum “a fraud designed to manipulate the elections.”

He said the questions should focus on issues such as whether to allow the import of grain from Ukraine, whether to exempt pensioners from income tax and whether the state should finance in vitro fertilisation, the PAP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Confederation leader Krzysztof Bosak argued that Poles should be asked whether immigrants should be entitled to welfare benefits, and whether buying internal-combustion engine cars should be banned from 2035, among other issues.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told MPs on Wednesday that “giving the people a say in a referendum is what democracy is all about."

Meanwhile, the Civic Coalition’s Tusk has denounced the planned referendum as a political ploy by the governing conservatives to boost their performance in the parliamentary election.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP