First parliamentary sitting in 2017 delayed
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
11.01.2017 13:14
The first sitting of the Polish parliament in 2017 has been delayed amid a political crisis in which opposition MPs are staging a protest in the building.
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The sitting on Wednesday was delayed by at least an hour after it was set to start at 12:00 CET.
It a tweet on Wednesday, parliamentary Speaker Marek Kuchciński wrote that he will chair a new session of parliament.
But opposition deputies have said that the previous sitting is still in session, claiming that a session on 16 December was not concluded.
Former Prime Minister and Civic Platform (PO) MP, Ewa Kopacz, said that Speaker Kuchciński called a recess during the December debate on the 2017 budget.
She added that the sitting was never continued, despite a contentious vote in an ancillary hall which passed the budget.
Opposition MPs have called the vote illegal, while members of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party have said that there were no irregularities in the ballot. (rg)