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WWho is the most popular politician in Poland today? As you might have guessed, it’s not the new Prime Minister Donald Tusk or the defeated opposition leader Jarosław Kaczynski. That is not President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Mr. Kaczynski’s main conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, who ruled Poland for eight years until last October’s election. No, the most popular politician in Poland is the newly elected Speaker of the Parliament, Szymon Holownia.
Even keen observers of Polish politics could be forgiven for not knowing about Mr. Holownia. This is because he is a newcomer to the Polish Parliament Seim. Although he is famous in Poland, he was not famous for political reasons until recently. For more than a decade, he co-hosted the TV show “Poland’s Got Talent!”
His meteoric political rise is completely unrealistic to Warsaw critics. It is as if Simon Cowell had stood for election to the House of Commons and become Speaker on his first day in Westminster. In reality, this is even more unusual because the speaker plays a key role.
In the Polish political system, the official title for this role is “Marszawek Seim” (Marshal Seim), and its powers are stronger than those assigned to Holownia’s British counterpart, Lindsay Hoyle. This post has military overtones, but not without reason.
The Marshal of Seim has his own security force, the Marshal Guard. His main task is to maintain order in the house, paying homage to the medieval origins of the Polish parliamentary tradition. Centuries ago, arguments in Seim would sometimes escalate to actual violence, and special elite units were formed to protect the king and other VIPs.
In Poland’s priorities, Marshal Seim is second (the Prime Minister is only fourth!). He can practically nullify any project simply by removing it from the order of business and storing it in the so-called marshal’s freezer. He has great powers over the filibuster. He can even turn off members’ microphones and order security to remove particularly unruly members.
The importance of the chair means that the role is traditionally given to experienced politicians. Simon Horounia is the first new member of parliament to be elected as field marshal since the fall of communism.
Mr. Holounia turned from entertainment to politics, he says, because he was frustrated by a lack of ideas about the future. Indeed, Polish politics is primarily focused on the past, and the main debate often boils down to who did what to whom many years ago. He started a political party called Poland 2050, and in 2023 formed a centre-right political alliance called the Third Way. Ahead of last October’s general election, he aligned himself with Tusk’s pro-European centrist group Citizens United.
At first, Howownia’s project was easily rejected. It is not uncommon for celebrities and billionaires to become members of parliament in Poland, but they rarely hold important positions and quickly become bored with them.
Not this time. But even those who voted for Holounia were surprised by his elevation to the chair. PiS veterans certainly underestimated his skills. Party leaders said he started his parliamentary career in 1989. The experience of the ups and downs of Seim politics might have suggested that it would easily surpass Horonia.
they were shocked. Holounia did her homework and memorized all of Congress’s rules, regulations and precedents. So far, he has not only emerged unscathed from the skirmish with the Old Guard, but also emerged as a political celebrity.
An attempt to force entry on February 7 by two former ministers (both of whom had criminal convictions and were prohibited from entering Seim even after the presidential pardon) was unsuccessful for PiS.
Everyone will root for this kind of hero. He is a rookie who fights against veterans and wins against all odds. This goes some way to explaining his Hołownia’s popularity. He promised to modernize Seim and bring it into the 21st century, subject it to greater scrutiny from the media and public, and eradicate practices entrenched under PiS.
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Hołownia’s style on Poland’s Got Talent! was very different from Simon Cowell’s approach. He was a “kind person” who comforted and encouraged nervous contestants.
In Congress, he always appears calm and polite, but injects humor and biting sarcasm into proceedings. When Kaczynski bellows that without the two banned ministers, “Seimu no longer exists,” Holonia retorts, “If we don’t exist, shouldn’t we stop paying you?” did. Commenting on the unruly behavior of another PiS politician, Mr Holounia criticized “Donald Trump for reducing his capabilities”.
A side effect has been a sudden surge in viewership for televised parliamentary proceedings, or what is known today as “Sejmflix.” Sejm’s official channel on YouTube currently has 741,000 subscribers, twice his number in the British Parliament. This is mainly due to his Hołownia performance.
Poland’s next presidential election will be held in just over a year. Although there has been no formal announcement yet, Holownia is expected to run, and polls so far suggest he will advance to the final runoff.
There is an old saying that a cardinal who enters a conclave as a pope leaves the conclave as a cardinal. In Polish elections, putting up a good fight too early can be the kiss of death. Unpredictable things always happen. But there is one thing he can safely predict. That means Simon he’ll be hearing more about Horonia.
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