Polish Left suspends MP for launching initiative with right-wing colleague

The Left (Lewica), which is part of Poland’s ruling coalition, has suspended one of its MPs after she launched an initiative in support of infrastructure development with a politician from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party. She is also facing disciplinary proceedings.

The head of the group’s parliamentary caucus, Anna-Maria Żukowska, announced on Thursday afternoon her request to suspend Paulina Matysiak for “acting contrary to the interests of the caucus” had been accepted by the caucus’s presidium of leaders.

Jako przewodnicząca Klubu Parlamentarnego @__Lewica złożyłam wniosek o zawieszenie na 3 m-ce posłanki @PolaMatysiak w prawach członkini Klubu za działanie niezgodne z interesem Klubu. Prezydium Klubu podjęło właśnie decyzję o jej zawieszeniu.

— Anna-Maria Żukowska 💁🏻‍♀️ (@AM_Zukowska) June 27, 2024

Żukowska’s announcement came hours after Matysiak had published a video of herself and PiS MP Marcin Horała revealing that they had jointly launched a “social movement” that they called “Yes to Development”.

The aim of the movement is “to connect citizens, organisations and politicians of various stripes supporting investments that are key to Poland’s development”, she wrote.

More specifically, they want to “put disputes aside and work together on the construction of the CPK [the Solidarity Transport Hub, a planned major rail, road and airport project], nuclear power plants, the expansion of ports and the army”.

Razem z @mhorala inicjujemy Ruch Społeczny „Tak dla Rozwoju”!

Chcemy łączyć obywateli, organizacje i polityków różnych opcji wspierających inwestycje kluczowe dla rozwoju Polski.

Pozostając w różnych partiach, spierając się na wiele tematów (światopoglądowych, historycznych i… pic.twitter.com/LG0aknHiJh

— Paulina Matysiak 🇵🇱🇺🇦 (@PolaMatysiak) June 27, 2024

Each of those projects were started under the former PiS government, which ruled Poland from 2015 until the end of last year, and there have been questions over whether and how they will continue under the new administration.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the planned CPK airport would go ahead, though some other elements of the project outlined previously under PiS would be changed.

Under the PiS government, Horała was the official in charge of CPK while Matysiak has long been a vocal supporter of the project.

A planned “mega-airport” in central Poland, which was a flagship project of the former government, will continue, @donaldtusk has confirmed.

But there will now be more emphasis on regional infrastructure, he says. “Poland will become one big megalopolis” https://t.co/OzGGvVHSdU

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 26, 2024

As well as being suspended for three months from The Left’s parliamentary caucus, Matysiak also faces disciplinary action from Razem (Together), the party she belongs to and which is part of The Left.

“Founding the association with Mr Horała is a private initiative of Paulina Matysiak, undertaken against the will of the Together authorities,” wrote the party in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “The Together party dissociates itself from this project. The party authorities were not informed about today’s joint speech with Horała.”

“Due to the action, which we consider harmful to the party, the party management is submitting a request to the party peer court to initiate disciplinary proceedings,” they added.

Krzysztof Gawkowski, a deputy prime minister and member of The Left, declared that the ruling coalition should not work with PiS, which “trampled on Polish democracy and the rule of law” when it was in power. Other figures from The Left pointed to PiS’s support for a near-total abortion ban and opposition to LGBT+ rights.

Założenie stowarzyszenia z panem Horałą to prywatna inicjatywa Pauliny Matysiak, podjęta wbrew woli władz Razem. Partia Razem odcina się od tego przedsięwzięcia. Władze partii nie zostały poinformowane o dzisiejszym wspólnym wystąpieniu z panem Horałą. W związku z działaniem,…

— Razem (@partiarazem) June 27, 2024

Thus far, the PiS party has not commented on Horała’s involvement in the initiative with Matysiak. Speaking to broadcaster TVN, Horała defended their actions.

“Politics does not have to look like an MMA fight or some frontline where people only shoot at each other or fight each other,” he said. “Sometimes you can also sit together and work for good causes for the country, if we agree on them.”

“For example, The Left and I have different views on many issues, including abortion, LGBT and so on,” he continued. “But at the same time, we, as individuals, not as formations, can say: well, we disagree on many issues, but there are also some on which we agree.”

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Main image credit: PolaMatysiak/X (screenshot)

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.