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UPDATE: President to address MPs, PM to resign as Poland's new parliament meets

13.11.2023 08:30
Poland's president is set to address the first session of the country's new parliament on Monday, which will also feature the resignation of the current prime minister.  
Polands lower house of parliament.
Poland's lower house of parliament. X/Polish Parliament

The lower house of Poland's bicameral parliament, the Sejm, will convene at noon on Monday, after a decision by President Andrzej Duda, state news agency PAP reported. 

The session will be led by senior lawmaker Marek Sawicki, a former agriculture minister, with a host of guests in attendance.

They will include the president, top country officials and diplomats, as well as former heads of state and government, the PAP news agency reported.

The sitting will begin with Duda's address to MPs and the nation, according to officials.

The president is expected to discuss issues of strategic importance to Poland and reiterate his support for the new government "in all its measures that will be good for Poland and the Polish people," the PAP news agency reported.

Members of the new Sejm will then take the oath and elect their Speaker.

Next, the current Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will tender his resignation.

The Polish president said at the start of last week that he would also entrust Morawiecki with the mission of forming a new government.

Meanwhile, the new upper house, the Senate, is set to meet for a first session later in the day, at 4 p.m., the PAP news agency reported.

Duda is scheduled to address the new senators, according to officials.   

Poles elected a new set of 460 MPs and 100 senators when they went to the ballot box last month.

Morawiecki's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party won Poland's October 15 election, but failed to secure a parliamentary majority, increasing the likelihood of an opposition government.

Poland's pro-European opposition groups on Friday signed an agreement to form a coalition government following last month's elections, pledging to restore the rule of law, promote green energy and relax abortion rules, among other policies.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAPPolsat News