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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The speaker of Poland’s parliament, Szymon Hołownia, wants to introduce breathalyser tests for MPs after he was forced to expel one from the chamber on Thursday for being drunk.
The incident came amid a day of raucous scenes in parliament, which included an opposition MP appearing to suggest that Prime Minister Donald Tusk should get a “bullet in the head”. Prosecutors today announced that they are investigating whether the incident constitutes a death threat.
Poseł Siarka i Poseł Wilk skompromitowali siebie i Sejm. Dziś zawnioskuję o ukaranie obu posłów najwyższą możliwą karą – po 20 tysięcy złotych. Zleciłem też Kancelarii przygotowanie rozwiązań, które pozwolą badać posłów alkomatem.
Nie ma zgody na warcholstwo. Kończymy długą…
— Szymon Hołownia (@szymon_holownia) February 21, 2025
On Thursday, Hołownia, who is the speaker of the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament, interrupted proceedings to ask Ryszard Wilk, an MP from the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party, to leave the chamber.
“I smelled a radical odour of alcohol on him and asked him to leave immediately,” said Hołownia, quoted by news website Onet. “He complied with this request immediately.”
“I have also ordered the chancellery [of the Sejm] to prepare solutions that will allow MPs to be tested with a breathalyser,” he added on social media. “We are ending the long tradition of tolerating the presence of drunken MPs. Not on my watch.”
Poseł @ryszard_wilk z Konfederacji w słabej dyspozycji na sali plenarnej Sejmu. Kiedyś już pijany poseł wyzywał policjantów, blokował drogę. Można się pośmiać, ale lepiej sięgnąć po pomoc specjalistów i pokonać problem. Wstyd, ale zawsze jest szansa wyjścia, czego życzę. pic.twitter.com/OAuMfc9Ry5
— Patryk Michalski (@patrykmichalski) February 20, 2025
Meanwhile, Wilk himself – who last year also made headlines for an incident in which he drunkenly confronted police officers – issued a statement today “sincerely apologising to everyone for my behaviour”.
“I have tried to conscientiously perform my duties as an MP, but I am losing to alcoholism,” he continued. Wilk said that he has tried various treatments and would continue to do so. He added that he will allow the Confederation parliamentary caucus to decide his political fate.
After Wilk’s statement, Hołownia revealed that, after initially intending to fine him the maximum of 20,000 zloty (€4,800), that had been reduced to 4,000 zloty “due to the declaration of fighting alcoholism”.
However, at the same time, the speaker revealed that the Sejm authorities had agreed with his request to fine another opposition MP, Edward Siarka of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, 20,000 zloty for appearing to call for the shooting of Tusk.
The incident occurred during a speech by PiS MP Zbigniew Ziobro, in which he said that Tusk should be sent to jail. At that moment, Siarka shouted from his seat in the chamber: “Bullet in the head.”
Deputy speaker Dorota Niedziela, who was overseeing proceedings, immediately intervened and asked Siarka if he wanted to apologise for his remarks. He then did so.
In a subsequent post on social media, Siarka suggested he had been quoting a poem by Polish Word War Two soldier Władysław Broniewski that includes the line: “For that hand raised over Poland – a bullet in the head.” But he again apologised.
As one opposition MP declared that they would send Donald Tusk to jail, another shouted from his seat "bullet in the head" https://t.co/W1mYdfiz02
— Daniel Tilles (@danieltilles1) February 20, 2025
Nevertheless, his words were widely condemned by figures from Tusk’s ruling coalition, as well as by Tusk himself during a subsequent speech in the chamber.
One government minister, Adam Szłapka, suggested that Siarka was guilty of making a death threat, which can result in a prison sentence of up to three years.
Shortly after midnight, public prosecutor general Adam Bodnar, who also serves as justice minister in Tusk’s government, announced that he was submitting a notification of a potential crime by Siarka and that prosecutors would on Friday begin taking action.
“There can be no consent for the words of MP Siarka,” wrote Bodnar. “There are limits, the crossing of which is unacceptable and must cause social opposition and a decisive reaction from the state.”
Na słowa posła Siarki nie ma zgody. Nie może być zgody! Są granice, których przekroczenie jest niedopuszczalne i musi powodować sprzeciw społeczny oraz zdecydowaną reakcję państwa.
Do zawiadomienia @krzysztofbrejza o podejrzeniu popełnienia przestępstwa dołączam moje własne.…— Adam Bodnar (@Adbodnar) February 20, 2025
A spokesman for prosecutors today told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that one of their first actions would be to interview Tusk himself, to ascertain if he felt threatened by the remarks.
Asked if Siarka’s apology mitigated the crime, the spokesman said it “may influence the potential sentence if it turns out that a crime has been committed”.
Members of parliament enjoy immunity from prosecution. However, they can be stripped of that privilege by a majority vote in the Sejm, where Tusk’s ruling coalition holds a majority and has already removed the immunity of several PiS and Confederation MPs this term.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Ministerstwo Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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.
