Last-minute Speaker

Ludwik Dorn, a Minister without portfolio, was chosen as the new speaker of the Sejm. Dorn received 235 votes, while Civic Platform's (PO) candidate Bronisław Komorowski was supported by 189 deputies.

"I'm very happy. It's hard to imagine a Speaker who's better prepared, better qualified and with more experience and who is more intellectually capable in this parliament" Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński said of Dorn. The new Speaker promised that he would try to meet the expectations of both the parliamentary majority and minority.

Dorn's candidacy was supported by the government coalition parties as well as by the deputies representing the Right of the Republic (PR), led by former Speaker Marek Jurek. Jurek resigned from the post three weeks ago after the coalition's proposed pro-life amendments to the Constitution were rejected by the Sejm, in large part due to a lack of support from his former fellow Law and Justice (PiS) deputies.

Ludwik Dorn, the former Minister of Internal Affairs, was PiS' last minute choice for the position of Speaker of the Sejm. During the course of the last week, PiS has tried to convince Marek Jurek to rejoin the ranks of the party, but the attempts failed. Allegedly, Jurek wanted more power for the conservative wing in PiS. Another candidate was Minister-Coordinator of the Secret Services Zbigniew Wasserman, but his candidacy was hampered by the controversy surrounding the alleged suicide of former leftist politician Barbara Blida.