Czarzasty named new speaker of Poland's lower house
Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, co-leader of the ruling coalition's junior partner, The Left, has been elected the new speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament.
During the Tuesday session of the Sejm, his candidacy was supported by 236 MPs, with 445 MPs taking the vote and two abstaining.
Czarzasty, who has served as deputy speaker since November 2023, replaced Szymon Holownia, who signed his resignation on November 13, 2025, in line with the coalition agreement that led to the formation of the current government.
Holownia, the leader of the centrist Poland 2050, another junior partner in Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ruling coalition, had held the position since November 2023.
The election of the speaker is made by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of MPs.
At a press conference following the vote, Czarzasty declared "a very loyal cooperation with the government."
"I will be a speaker of peace, a speaker of reason, a speaker of distance, I will be a speaker who thinks 56 times before making a decision, because I prefer to take reasonable decisions rather than quick ones," he said.
Czarzasty also took the opportunity to thank Holownia, whom he called "a good speaker" who "introduced a number of things that will be continued," referring to Holownia's organisational changes in the lower house.
"Honestly, I can't see any reason to give up any of those things," Czarzasty said. (PAP)
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