The ruling marks a further stage in a major split within PiS, the conservative party that governed Poland from 2015 to 2023 and is now the largest opposition party.
The party's disciplinary panel ruled on Thursday that 38 members of the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, and two senators had seriously violated the party statute by leaving its parliamentary caucus and joining a rival grouping.
The 40 politicians have seven days to appeal. If they do not, their PiS membership will formally end after that period, party disciplinary spokesman Karol Karski said.
Morawiecki, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2023, has emerged at the head of Development Plus. The new parliamentary group includes dozens of former PiS lawmakers.
The disciplinary panel cited an additional reason for Morawiecki's expulsion, his August 3 announcement that he intended to establish a political party competing with PiS.
Morawiecki has said the new party will be founded by October 15, when a Development Plus convention is scheduled.
Karski said Morawiecki had not responded to two text messages informing him of the disciplinary proceedings and inviting him to comment.
The dispute erupted after PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński gave party lawmakers until late July to resign from outside political associations or face expulsion.
More than 40 politicians associated with Morawiecki refused to submit the required declarations.
The group initially maintained that its activities did not amount to leaving PiS. Its members later said they no longer considered themselves party members and established their own parliamentary caucus.
Three PiS members of the European Parliament who belong to the Development Plus association, Piotr Müller, Michał Dworczyk and Waldemar Buda, were not covered by Thursday's ruling.
Karski said their cases were not considered because they had not left the PiS parliamentary group in the Polish parliament.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR/PAP/TVP Info