Poland’s opposition Law and Justice party (PiS) expelled former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and an even larger group of lawmakers after a split within the party, the head of the party’s internal disciplinary court said. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports, according to UNN.
Details
The court ruled that those expelled had violated the party statute by leaving the PiS parliamentary faction and joining a new one.
The expulsions affect 38 lawmakers, including Morawiecki, as well as two senators. Previously, the conservative PiS held 181 seats in the Sejm—the lower house of parliament—and 33 seats in the Senate—the upper house.
The split in PiS occurred at the end of July following a power struggle between the party’s founder, 77-year-old Jarosław Kaczyński, and 58-year-old Morawiecki. Morawiecki refused to support the rightward shift imposed by Kaczyński and, together with other representatives of the economically liberal wing, founded an internal party association called “Development Plus.”
Kaczyński demanded that the association be dissolved, issuing an ultimatum and insisting that all its members sign a declaration of loyalty. Morawiecki refused to comply with either demand and announced the creation of his own parliamentary group. After that, proceedings were launched against him and other members of “Development Plus” to expel them from the party.
PiS governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. During that time, the party significantly reformed the judicial system, which, among other things, led to a conflict with the European Commission.
PiS lost the parliamentary elections in October 2023 and has remained the country’s largest opposition party ever since.