Deputy minister dismissed after lavish wedding sparked anger and corruption accusations

A deputy agriculture minister in Poland’s government has been fired following anger over his lavish wedding, which saw him gifted a 1.5 million zloty (€318,000) tractor and sparked media investigations raising questions of corruption.

The minister in question, Norbert Kaczmarczyk, has responded to his dismissal by claiming to be the victim of a “witch hunt” and promising legal action against those who have accused him and his family of wrongdoing.

Kaczmarczyk’s wedding in August was attended by more than 500 guests, including justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is head of the United Poland (Solidarna Polska) party to which Kaczmarczyk belongs. Bayer Full – one of Poland’s best-known disco polo bands – performed at the reception.

The lavish wedding of a deputy minister – at which he was presented with a 1.5m złoty tractor and famous disco polo band Bayer Full performed for the 750 guests – has drawn controversy.

"It was a PR disaster," says one minister, speaking anonymously https://t.co/40pmVIgAF3

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 31, 2022

The biggest controversy, however, was caused by the gifting of a John Deere tractor worth 1.5 million zloty. A video from the wedding, which shows Kaczmarczyk “baptising” the tractor with champagne and a priest blessing it, was captured by the seller of the vehicle and later featured on its YouTube channel.

The tractor raised particular questions because Kaczmarczyk’s property declarations show that he owns only a small farm that has an annual income of 5,000 zloty. The politician later announced that the tractor had only been “symbolically” gifted to him at the wedding and actually belonged to his brother.

In recent days, an investigation by news website Wirtualna Polska alleged that Kaczmarczyk had helped his brother sublease 141 hectares of state land, effectively bypassing a law introduced by his own government, according to which land should only be leased to local farmers.

Michał Kołodziejczak – an activist who has led protests by some farmers against the government – called the sublease “political corruption”. Kaczmarczyk denied these accusations, saying that subletting is legal and neither he nor none of his family members lease directly from the state.

However, with political pressure building, it was announced yesterday that Kaczmarczyk had been dismissed from his role. The prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, assured that United Poland would be able to choose a successor to the removed deputy minister.

This morning Kaczmarczyk issued a statement defending himself against his critics. “I am a farmer and I come from a farming family,” he wrote. “Everything we have we owe solely to our hard work. Neither I nor any of my relatives broke the law.”

“The decision to dismiss me has no justification,” declared the politician, who said he had been the victim of a “witch hunt…aimed at destroying me” and promised he would “meet the slanderers in court”.