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Polish lawmakers reject bid to oust justice minister

22.02.2024 18:00
Polish lawmakers have rejected a bid to oust the country’s justice minister amid a row over judicial reforms he has been spearheading to end a long-standing dispute with Brussels.
Justice Minister Adam Bodnar speaks in the Sejm, the lower house of Polands parliament, on Thursday.
Justice Minister Adam Bodnar speaks in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament, on Thursday.Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

A total of 234 MPs on Thursday voted to defeat a no-confidence motion put forward against Justice Minister Adam Bodnar by the opposition.

Meanwhile, 191 deputies supported the motion, and none abstained, state news agency PAP reported.

The bid had little chance of succeeding because the country’s ruling pro-European coalition holds a comfortable majority in parliament.

The vote came after the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party accused Bodnar, who also serves as prosecutor-general, of creating chaos in the Polish judiciary and acting unconstitutionally to seize control of the prosecution service.

Liberal politicians including Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended Bodnar in parliament on Thursday, saying the minister was playing a key role in efforts to restore the rule of law and end a protracted row with Brussels over judicial changes.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk addresses lawmakers in Warsaw on Thursday. Prime Minister Donald Tusk addresses lawmakers in Warsaw on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Legal changes carried out by the previous right-wing government led by the PiS party put Poland on a collision course with the European Union, triggering a series of bitter clashes between Warsaw and Brussels.

One of the outcomes was the EU's refusal to release funds to Poland under the bloc's post-pandemic recovery package.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP