Kropiwnicki left MAP. Poland 2050 is looking forward to it, but is the Constitutional Tribunal waiting?

KO politicians say unofficially that the decision to leave Robert Kropiwnicki from MAP had already been made earlier and they were waiting for the moment to “announce it without political noise.” In turn, Marek Suski from PiS told PAP that “in KO, 'the bulldog war under the carpet is extremely bloody,' and Kropiwnicki persevered for a long time anyway.”

After Robert Kropiwnicki announced on Wednesday that he was leaving the Ministry of Assets, speculation appeared in the media that the politician may become secretary general of the Civic Coalition or even a candidate for a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal.

The latter would be surprising because it was him, as a PO MP, who in 2015 pushed for solutions that gave the Sejm of the 7th term the right to elect Constitutional Tribunal judges “in advance”. This was the beginning of the crisis around the Constitutional Tribunal – after the election victory, PiS annulled the election of these five, electing five of its own in their place.

– I am in politics, I am an MP – said Kropiwnicki himself when asked by journalists in the Sejm on Thursday about his future. When asked what “new challenges” awaited him, he replied that there was “still some time to announce it.” When asked about media speculations that he could become secretary general of the KO or a judge of the Constitutional Tribunal, he replied: “I don't exclude or confirm anything. There are a lot of possibilities, but let's really wait.”

Later, in an interview with PAP, he emphasized that these were only rumors.

Poland 2050 is especially happy about the deputy minister's departure. Vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Climate and State Assets, Rafał Komarewicz from Poland 2050, points to Kropiwnicki as one of the biggest opponents of the bill pushed by his group – regarding the depoliticization of the mechanism for appointing the authorities of State Treasury companies.

Szymon Hołownia's formation has been demanding Kropiwnicki's resignation for a long time – even since their representative, Deputy Minister Jacek Bartmiński, left the Ministry of State Assets. His resignation also occurred as a result of a dispute with Kropiwnicki.

– Minister Kropiwnicki resigned from the office of deputy minister, I suspect under pressure from Minister Wojciech Balczun. It follows that the head of the ministry did not like the way of managing State Treasury companies. I think it's a good signal, it's just a pity it's so late. If it weren't for this, the fate of our act on depoliticization of State Treasury companies, which is the 13th point of the coalition agreement, would have turned out differently. If Mr. Balczun had been a minister from the beginning, perhaps this bill would have gone in a different direction, Komarewicz tells PAP.

He noted that Poland 2050 still demands that the procedure for electing the authorities of State Treasury companies be regulated by law – preferably in the manner proposed in the project of this group. – It is clear that Minister Balczun has a different way of managing State Treasury companies and sets himself different goals – said Komarewicz. – I hope that he will consider our bill and that specific solutions will be prepared in a short time or that he will quickly present his own project – he added.

The recently joined economy and state assets committees decided that the Poland 2050 project returns to the subcommittee. The original version assumed that 30 percent members of supervisory boards of State Treasury companies would be nominated by the Good Governance Committee. Members of this committee would be appointed at the request of employers' organizations, universities and trade unions.

The project also provided that persons appointed to supervisory boards could not be members of political parties or – for five years before taking up their duties – serve as MPs, senators or MEPs. The act also introduced full transparency of remuneration of members of management and supervisory boards of state-owned companies.

Ultimately, Poland 2050 withdrew from most of the original demands, leaving only the provisions regarding the grace period for politicians and the transparency of salaries.

– I heard that the dismissal is the reason for dissatisfaction with the appointment of various people to positions in companies. And the minister who is responsible for appointing management and supervisory boards of companies is a bit like a sapper, he always offends someone, Marek Suski (PiS), head of the energy, climate and state assets committee, told PAP. – I think there was dissatisfaction with the fact that he staffed the companies with his own people, and not with the boss's people or the boss's henchmen. In the Platform, the bulldog war under the carpet is extremely bloody, and Kropiwnicki remained in this position for a long time – he adds.

Politicians of the Civic Coalition are officially reluctant to comment on Robert Kropiwnicki's dismissal. However, in unofficial conversations they remind that the departure of the deputy head of MAP has been speculated for months. – It was obvious that it was bound to break and it finally did – the KO MP tells PAP.

Another parliamentarian adds that the decision to dismiss Kropiwnicki had already been made by Donald Tusk himself. – This is not about a conflict with Balczun or about this or that nomination in the company. Tusk had long ago decided to dismiss Kropiwnicki, they were just waiting for a convenient moment in terms of image. Now everyone is busy with Ziobro and the purchase of land in CPK, so Kropiwnicki could have been quietly dismissed – explains the KO MP.

The fact is that the media have long been writing about Robert Kropiwnicki in a not the best context. It was recalled, among other things, that he owns 12 apartments and yet receives PLN 3.5 thousand from the Chancellery of the Sejm. PLN allowance for the 13th apartment. It was also pointed out that as a deputy minister he had a company car and at the same time received PLN 128,000 from the Chancellery of the Sejm. PLN per year due to the so-called kilometers for traveling by private car.

In September 2024, the Onet portal reported that after Kropiwnicki took up the position of deputy minister of state assets at Totalizator Sportowy, the “landing” of people associated with him, as well as associates of the Minister of Sports Sławomir Nitras, began. One of Kropiwnicki's closest collaborators was considered to be the vice-president of Totalizator Sportowy, who is also a shareholder of the company responsible for running the “Sok z Buraka” hate profile.

According to media reports, after the scandal related to Totalizator Sportowy, Kropiwnicki was supposed to have signed his resignation, but ultimately he remained in his position. One of the reasons – as the media wrote – was his competence and ingenuity as a lawyer. It was he who had, among other things, come up with the idea of ​​including TVN on the list of strategic companies, which would make it more difficult to sell this private company to an entity considered politically undesirable.

The media also wrote in the past that Kropiwnicki had the best relationship with the first head of MAP, Borys Budka. Relations with his successor, Jakub Jaworowski, were much worse, and the worst with the head of MAP since July this year. Wojciech Balczun. According to Onet, the reason for Kropiwnicki's dismissal was the conflict with Balczun, and Kropiwnicki himself was to resign because, among other things, he did not agree with the recent changes in Orlen's management.

Balczun himself denied in RMF that the reason for Kropiwnicki's dismissal was their conflict. “I deny the mass comments about conflicts, the fight between conflicts, the war between the bald and the shaggy. It seems to us that we need parliamentary work less at the moment, and more that we need work here, in solving current problems,” Balczun said. Kropiwnicki's place was taken by lawyer Ewa Zeidler, who had no connection with political life.

This last fact is negatively assessed by some KO MPs, who are dissatisfied that the club is losing influence in the next ministry, after the Ministry of Health. – When Kropa was there, you could go to him, have a cup of coffee and he would solve one out of seven matters positively. Now what? – one of the KO MPs complains in an interview with PAP. (PAP)

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