Parliament prepares to reopen session in alternate chamber this week

Poland’s Parliament is scheduled to resume session on Wednesday, but the ruling party (PiS) is preparing to move the session if necessary. It wants to conduct the session in the Hall of Columns, an alternative chamber within the parliamentary building, in the case of the main chamber being blocked by opposition members, the Chancellor of the Sejm said in a Twitter message on Sunday. “The press office emphasizes that the Chancellery of the Sejm will endeavor to [chamber number] 34 [the largest chamber, in which sessions are normally held]. However, if [there is] an illegal protest (or other circumstances), and normal operation of the Chamber will not be possible, the Chancellery of the Sejm decided to adapt the Hall of Columns to carry out [the] agenda, which, if necessary, will allow members to work without interference and unnecessary obstacles. Everything after that the work of the Chamber of the Legislative could be held smoothly,” the statement read in part. The opposition members of the parliament, for their part, have asserted that the vote on the budget held on December 16 by the ruling PiS party was illegal. Since that date, members of both main opposition parties, PO and Modern, have remained in the plenary hall of the Sejm, demanding that PiS return to former rules, which they believe were more in line with democratic norms. Sejm Speaker Marek Kuchciński had resumed deliberations in the Column Hall, where budget voting was conducted.