New Polish cabinet: Kaczyński returns alongside education minister who likens LGBT to Nazism

Poland’s prime minister has announced the composition of a new cabinet, bringing to an end weeks of tension with the governing camp.

Most of the changes – including the return to government of Jarosław Kaczyński – have come as little surprise, after being rumoured over previous days and weeks.

However, among the decisions that had not been anticipated until reports emerged yesterday is the appointment of an education minister who has linked “LGBT ideology” to Nazism and suggested that its adherents do not deserve the same rights as “normal people”.

The return of Kaczyński

As expected, Kaczyński, chairman of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, joins the cabinet as deputy prime minister and head of a newly created state security committee that will give him oversight of the justice, defence and interior ministries.

As the dominant figure at the head of ruling coalition, Kaczyński has functioned as Poland’s de facto leader since PiS returned to power in late 2015. But today’s announcement marks the first time he has held a formal government position since serving as prime minister in 2006-7.

Meanwhile, the current prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, remains in place, as does the hardline justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, leader of PiS’s junior coalition partner, United Poland (Solidarna Polska).

The two men are seen as fierce rivals, and Kaczyński’s return is part of the agreement that brought to an end a recent rebellion by Ziobro’s party.

Less than two weeks ago, senior PiS figures were claiming that the the coalition “was over” after United Poland voted against an animal protection bill strongly supported by Kaczyński. However, further talks led the two parties and their other partner, the more moderate Agreement (Porozumienie), to sign a new coalition deal on Saturday.

Anti-LGBT education minister

Przemysław Czarnek enters the government as the new minister for education and science, a post that brings together responsibility for schools and universities, which had previously been separate portfolios.

Czarnek, a PiS MP, has been at the forefront of the anti-LGBT campaign led by the ruling party since early last year. He is also a legal scholar at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), where is currently the subject of a disciplinary investigation over one of his anti-LGBT statements.

In June, Czarnek said, during an appearance on state TV: “Let’s defend ourselves from LGBT ideology and stop listening to this idiocy about human rights or equality. These people are not equal to normal people…Let’s protect the family from this kind of corruption, depravity, absolutely immoral behaviour.”

In response, an opposition MP requested disciplinary action against Czarnek by KUL. The university emphasised that it “does not share or identify with” Czarnek’s statement. Yet last month, despite a disciplinary investigation still being ongoing, KUL promoted Czarnek to a professorship.

In his defence, Czarnek has argued that, when he made the comments on TV, he was referring specifically to a photo he had taken in Los Angeles of a man outside a gay bar with his genitalia on display. “These aren’t normal people,” he told news website Onet.

Separately, in August, Czarnek told Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja that “there is no doubt that LGBT ideology, arising from neo-Marxism, comes from the same roots as German Nazism, which is responsible for all the evils of World War Two…The left is unable to see that it is exactly the same”.

Last year, when serving as governor of the Lublin Province, Czarnek awarded medals to those who had fought against “LGBT ideology”.

Only one woman in the cabinet

Another figure returning to government is Jarosław Gowin, the leader of Agreement. Earlier this year, he resigned as deputy prime minister in protest against PiS’s efforts to hold a presidential election by post amid the pandemic.

Gowin now becomes deputy prime minister as well as taking over a newly expanded brief as minister of development and labour. His arrival has forced the departure of Jadwiga Emilewicz from both positions. Last week she resigned from Agreement, citing “fundamental differences” with Gowin.

Another previously expected change sees the departure of the agriculture minister, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski. He had publicly criticised and voted against the animal rights bill, resulting in his suspension from PiS. He is replaced by Grzegorz Puda, who was one of the originators of the legislation.

Meanwhile, the environment and climate ministries have been merged. The latter was created less than a year ago, after PiS won re-election for a second term. The newly combined department will be headed by Michał Kurtyka, who had previously held the climate brief.

The new government has also been slimmed down, with the number of ministries reduced from 20 to 14. One consequence of this is that, with the disappearance of the female-led ministries of sport and funds and regional policy, as well as the departure of Emilewicz, there is now only one woman in the cabinet: Marlena Maląg, who keeps her job as minister of family and social policy.

Morawiecki announced today that there will still be one further minister without portfolio added to the government from United Poland. Previously reports have suggested Michał Woś, the outgoing environment minister, would receive the position.

The full composition of Poland’s new government, which is likely to be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda next week, is as follows:

• Mateusz Morawiecki – prime minister
• Jarosław Kaczyński – deputy prime minister and head of state security committee
• Piotr Gliński – deputy prime minister and minister of culture and sport
• Jacek Sasin – deputy prime minister and minister of state assets
• Jarosław Gowin – deputy prime minister and minister of development and labour
• Mariusz Błaszczak – minister of national defence
• Mariusz Kamiński – minister of internal affairs
• Zbigniew Rau – minister of foreign affairs
• Zbigniew Ziobro – minister of justice
• Tadeusz Kościński – minister of finance
• Marlena Maląg – minister of family and social policy
• Adam Niedzielski – minister of health
• Przemysław Czarnek – minister of education and research
• Andrzej Adamczyk – minister of infrastructure
• Grzegorz Puda – minister of agriculture
• Michał Kurtyka – minister of the environment and climate
• Michał Cieślak – minister in the prime minister’s chancellery with responsibility for local government

Main image credit: Dawid Zuchowicz / Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.