Jurgiel leaves PiS. He sent a letter to Kaczyński
MEP Krzysztof Jurgiel officially resigned from PiS membership. He sent a letter to the party president, Jarosław Kaczyński, on this matter.
Krzysztof Jurgiel decided to leave Law and Justice. He sent a letter to the party president, Jarosław Kaczyński, on this matter. “This statement is an expression of non-acceptance of the standards of conduct in the Law and Justice party, which I can no longer accept,” we read in the MEP's resignation. “The last few days – exceptionally sad for me personally, have revealed how the group that was founded over 30 years ago has changed in opposition to the pathology of political life at that time,” wrote the politician.
“Therefore, with pain and regret, but in accordance with my conscience, I am leaving the Law and Justice political party,” he said. He also added that the loss of the majority in Podlasie is “a result of the lack of dialogue and loss of social trust.”
The MEP also directly criticized Kaczyński. “The party president, instead of listening to my opinion and considering the quality of the arguments presented to him, suspended my membership in PiS. This is, of course, not only a violation of my personal rights, but also the statute of the party – which has Law and Justice in its name,” he said. He added that his decision does not mean that he will withdraw from public life.
Krzysztof Jurgiel resigns from PiS membership
On May 16, PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek announced that Krzysztof Jurgiel had been suspended as a party member by Jarosław Kaczyński. The president of the group stated that the MEP contributed to PiS losing its majority in the Podlaskie Voivodeship assembly. According to Kaczyński, Jurgiel's actions “were revenge” for not being on the list of candidates for the European Parliament this time. Jurgiel himself called Kaczyński's words “slander” and assured that he neither participated in negotiations on building a coalition in Podlasie, nor did he want to run for the European Parliament again.
Jurgiel was the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the governments of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Beata Szydło and Mateusz Morawiecki (2005–2006, 2015–2018), and then a Member of the European Parliament of the 9th term (2019–2024).