PO gears up for legislative marathon

Tuesday will see the start of what is already being described by politicians as an "October revolution." Civic Platform (PO) wants to pass 120 bills in a month. Most of them were proposed by the "FriendlyState" commission, which since February has been looking into ways to reduce unnecessary red tape for businesses. The legislation aims to reduce the need for construction permits, residency requirements and payments for identity cards, while entrepreneurs would be allowed to keep copies of receipts in an electronic format, rather than rolls of paper as is currently required.

The following week will be dedicated to legislation on social issues. Members of parliament are to vote on health reforms, then on so-called "bridging pensions," and on extending maternity leave.

Next in line is a bill aimed at barring individuals with a criminal record from being candidates for parliament, as well as extending elections for two days and enabling citizens to cast their votes by mail. However, these will require amending the constitution.

"These are shallow changes. Quantity is not quality," said Andrzej Sadowski of the Adam Smith Research Institute. "Eliminating the requirement for keeping receipts is pointless, when the new electronic system of storing data turns out to be too expensive for taxi drivers, for example," he added.

At the same time, the opposition is skeptical.

"The cow that moos too much, gives little milk," said Paweł Kowal of PiS. "It will all drag on and PO's plan to accept the bills so fast will fail."

"No doubt that this is strictly a political marketing operation thought as a way of responding to PiS's attacks which accuse PO of laziness," political commentator Marek Migalski told WBJ. However, he sees the situation as a win-win for PO.

"If legislations fail due to opposition in the Sejm or a presidential veto, PO can blame somebody for the failure of their idea," he said.

Marcin Poznań