The Senate rejected the president's request for a constitutional referendum



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On Wednesday, the Senate rejected the request of President Andrzej Duda to hold a constitutional referendum on November 10 and 11. The president wanted the Poles to talk about changes to the constitution. During the vote, the referendum motion was supported by 10 senators, 30 opposed, 52 abstained. The consent of the Senate was an indispensable condition of the referendum proposed by Andrzej Duda. Senators have not been able to amend the presidential proposal.

According to the constitution, the president orders a national referendum with the consent of the Senate expressed by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of senators. The absolute majority needed to accept the organization of the referendum was 47 votes Wednesday.

With Senate approval for a referendum proposed by President Duda, 10 senators were in favor, 30 were against, 52 abstained from voting.

In the 63-seat PiS club, 59 senators took part in the vote. 9 was at the request of the president, no one was against it, 50 senators abstained, 4 did not vote.

Behind the president's request were the PiS senators: Rafał Ambrozik, Jerzy Chrócikowski, Zbigniew Cichoń, Wiesław Dobkowski, Mieczyslaw Golba, Andrzej Kamiński, Tadeusz Romańczuk, Andrzej Stanisławek, Jan Żaryn.

Adam Bielan, Grzegorz Bierecki, Przemysław Błaszczyk, Aleksander Bobko, Grzegorz Czelej, Jerzy Czerwiński, Dorota Czudowska, Robert Gaweł, Adam Gawęda, Stanisław Gogacz, Arkadiusz Grabowski, Jan Hamerski, Jan Maria Jackowski and Stanisław Karczewski abstained. Maria Koc, Tadeusz Kopeć, Małgorzata Kopiczko, Waldemar Kraska, Maciej Łuczak, Józef Łyczak, Ryszard Majer, Robert Mamątow, Marek Martynowski, Andrzej Mioduszewski, Andrzej Misiołek, Krzysztof Mróz, Jarosław Obremski, Bogusława Orzechowska, Andrzej Pająk, Grzegorz Peczkis, Marek Pęk , Wojciech Piecha, Michał Potoczny, Zdzisław Pupa, Konstanty Radziwiłł, Jarosław Rusiecki, Czesław Ryszka, Janina Sagatowska, Michał Seweryński, Krzysztof Słoń, Aleksander Szwed, Antoni Szymański, Rafał Ślusarz, Artur Warzocha, Kazimierz Wiatr, Jacek Włosowicz, Andrzej Wojtyła, Alicja Zając, Józef Zając.

Not Voted: Anna Maria Anders, Margareta Budner, Leszek Piechota, Krystian Probierz.

27 senators voted in an OP club of 30 people – all were against, 3 senators did not take part in the vote.

Opponents voted against: Mieczysław Augustyn, Ryszard Bonisławski, Bogdan Borusewicz, Leszek Czarnobaj, Robert Dowhan, Jarosław Duda, Jerzy Fedorowicz, Piotr Florek, Tomasz Grodzki, Maciej Grubski, Wieslaw Kilian, Kazimierz Kleina, Bogdan Klich, Andrzej Kobiak , Władysław Komarnicki Alexander Pociej, Marian Poślednik, Marek Rocki, Jadwiga Rotnicka, Jan Rulewski, Sławomir Rybicki, Waldemar Sługocki, Grażyna Sztark, Pyotr Wach, Jerzy Wcisła, Barbara Zdrojewska and Piotr Zientarski.

PO Senators: Barbara Borys-Damięka, Maria Pańczyk-Pozdziej, Przemysław Termiński did not participate in the vote.

The non-attached senators shared the vote: one was in favor, three against and two abstained. Lidia Staroń did not vote.

Waldemar Bonkowski, Jan Filip Libicki and Grzegorz Napieralski were against the referendum. Marek Borowski and Jan Dobrzyński abstained from voting. Stanisław Kogut was in favor of the referendum.


Paweł Mucha appealed for the approval of the referendum

Deputy head of the office of President Paweł Mucha appealed on Wednesday to the Senate for the House to agree on a referendum on November 10 and 11 regarding changes to the constitution. The OP Senators and the PiS Senators expressed doubts about the referendum in the debate.

– It is difficult to imagine a better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the reconquest of independence than to allow the Poles to express sovereignly their views on the directions in which Poland should to move – stressed Mucha in his speech to the Senate.

In presenting the president's request, the minister pointed out that almost thirty years after Poland regained full sovereignty and more than twenty years of validity of the current constitution, the time has come to make its voice heard. – I call to the House for a positive review of the application and a decision on the granting of consent to hold a referendum, during which all Polish citizens will be able to comment on the issues most important – the future of our country and our homeland – said Mucha.

Referring to the proposed date, the referendum declared that it is difficult to better celebrate the 100th anniversary of independence than to "allow the Poles to express their views on the Future of the Republic of Poland ". He called on senators to "not be afraid of democracy, so that they are not afraid of the declarations of the nation". As he pointed out, the National Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Bureau are ready to ensure that the autumn local elections and the constitutional referendum are conducted in an efficient and reliable manner. Mucha also assured that funds for an information campaign on referendum issues were obtained at the Chancellery of the President.


Minister Mucha to Senators: Do not be afraid of democracy and the expression of the nation



Debate on the proposal

In the debate on the motion, senators, including Bogdan Klich, declared that the platform "will not get in the way of the game between the president and the PiS". Jan Rulewski (PO) stressed that the choice of the referendum date is "irrelevant". – These legal arguments are very important, and perhaps even more – the infrastructural arguments presented by PKW. A very courteous attitude, which says that they will hold a referendum, but do not take responsibility for its results, proves that this issue is not over – said the senator.

According to Jan Żaryn (PiS), accepting a referendum requires "some kind of courage" on the part of senators. At the same time, he appealed to this courage. – It should be clearly stated that despite many doubts, not to grant this mandate, this consent will mean that we are not, in fact, supporters of faith in the Polish nation, that it can to be a civic nation and can be sovereign, "said Zaryn, on the other side of the coin, that is, the failure of the agreement – added the senator PiS.

As he added, there are many issues related to the referendum, including the deadline for its implementation. – With regard to this incendiary bomb, I would strongly emphasize that I think the term was chosen with the intention and deliberation of the President – he stressed.


"It is unlikely that the debate in the Senate on the referendum takes place in the night "



Series of questions

Mucha also spoke after the debate. – You are not assigned to party tribes (…). I look at the Senate and in the art regulations. 2 Senators' activities are guided by the good of the nation and their own conscience. I am confident that each of you will make an individual assessment, and that it will be an evaluation, which will be the assessment of a given Senator, a given Senator and that you will be able to resolve your conviction in the interest of the Republic – he said.

He stressed that if senators did not support the request of the president, "this referendum will not be there". As he said, if during the debate "the voices were so divided, if the opinions were so varied and the discussion interesting, why block the possibility of speaking directly to the nation in this matter?".

– As you wish, the senators of the Republic of Poland say to the public: + We knew better, we decide for you, there will be no referendum, there will be no response to these constitutional questions, because we have decided little, they are too specific or too general, too much concern political issues or too little about the political system – stressed the presidential minister.

He stressed that "the question is so fundamental that the voice of the nation should not be absent here". – Let society have the opportunity to comment and let society evaluate the system we have, the electoral system and draw conclusions. The Poles are a wise nation and will be able to make the right decision – said Mucha.

After Paweł Mucha's speech, a series of questions addressed to the presidential minister and a debate of a few hours, Senate Vice-President Adam Bielan ordered a break in the meeting until 18. After resuming the debate – as he added – there will be a vote on the candidacy of the president.

On Tuesday, the Senate Legislative Committee did not recommend the Senate's approval of the presidential order for a referendum on changes to the constitution.


The Senate Committee rejected the referendum request of the President



Presidential Project

A year ago, on May 3, President Andrzej Duda proposed that in 2018, during the centenary of the reconquest of the independence of Poland, a referendum would be held to answer the question to know what changes the Constitution wants.

At the celebration of May 3, the President announced that in the prescribed period of the national referendum, he would submit to the Senate a draft resolution of the President, namely a request for a referendum on November 10 and 11, 2018.

After the president proposed a referendum on the constitution last May, PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński said amendments to the constitution should be made. He criticized the idea of ​​holding an advisory referendum on Independence Day.


The Senate will not deal with the president's request for a referendum Tuesday



Ten referendum questions

In the draft presidential resolution on the referendum, there were 10 questions, including whether the Poles are in favor of adopting a new constitution, if they are in favor of a presidential or cabinet system or they abandon the current model. Among the issues are also constitutional guaranteeing the inviolability of family rights to the benefits of the 500 plus program, the right to a pension earned at the age of 60 for women and 65 for men.

The President also wants to ask citizens if they are in favor of the constitutional standardization of the election of deputies to the Diet: single-member constituencies (majority system), multi-member constituencies (proportional system) or a combination of both systems (mixed system).


The Chair: I want the two-day referendum to be held on November 10 and 11



Who can ask for a referendum?

According to the constitution, a national referendum on matters of particular importance to the state may be ordered by the Sejm or the President with the consent of the Senate.

An absolute majority of votes is required to accept a referendum in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of Senators. PiS in the 100-seat Senate with a majority – 63 senators; PO at 30; the other seven are non-attached senators.


Mucha: I believe that in the referendum the senators will act according to the expectations of the Poles



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