Most for change
233 Members, mainly from the governing coalition party, voted in favour of the amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm. 179 parliamentarians voted against, primarily from the Law and Justice and 14, mainly from the Confederation, abstained.
An earlier PiS request to reject the task was rejected. The amendment of the rules provides for the anticipation of reducing the parliamentary allowance and wage in the event of unjustified absences from the Sejm meetings.
New rules
As the justification shows, the intent of the amendments is to tighten the rules of procedure of failure or simplification of the parliamentary allowance and wage in the event of an unjustified absence of the parliamentarian at meetings of the Sejm or its bodies.
The fresh rules besides introduce a modification to the way Members are confirmed at the meeting. This has so far been done through an entry in the attendance list available throughout the day of the gathering and participation in the votes confirmed by printouts. The Bureau of the Sejm proposed that the Member's presence be confirmed primarily by signing the attendance list, which is available all day of the meeting.
On the day of the session of the Sejm during which the vote is held, the presence of a associate shall confirm the participation in at least 80% of the votes.
At present, the talker of the Sejm may reduce the wage and the parliamentary allowance by 1/30 for each day of unjustified absence at the session of the Sejm or for participation in little than 20% of the vote of a given day. In addition, the same part of the wage shall be reduced for each day of unjustified absence at a committee gathering if the number of these absences exceeds 20% of all committee meetings per month.
Members can pay dearly
The amendment to the Rules of Procedure exacerbates the punishment for the unjustified absence of a associate at Parliament meetings exceeding 3 days a month, allowing the marshal to reduce his diet and salaries by 1/5 for each consecutive day of absence. The fresh provisions besides supply for a full failure of the allowance and a simplification of the wage to 1/10 of its amount if the associate does not appear for 18 consecutive days of meetings until he is again present.
The amendments besides supply that the associate may mention the Parliamentary Bureau to the resolution taken within 7 days of its delivery. The deduction of the allowance and the simplification of the wage will be carried out at the earliest 7 days after the adoption of the resolution or after reconsidering the case. The amendment besides states that the full simplification in the wage of a associate must not exceed 9/10 of its amount. The current wage is PLN 13,467.92 gross and the parliamentary allowance is PLN 4,208.73 gross.
