Post by Jaga on Mar 31, 2018 4:23:12 GMT -7
this bill was very restrictive. there was no way to appeal it. All generals were demoted independently whether they were defending communism or were just cosmonauts, like Hermaszewski.
www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-politics-martial/polands-president-vetoes-bill-demoting-martial-law-officers-idUSKBN1H6130
Poland's president vetoes bill demoting martial law officers
Reuters Staff
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s president Andrzej Duda, an ally of the right-wing government, on Friday vetoed a law that would demote Communist military officers who were responsible for introducing martial law in 1981.
Poland's president Andrzej Duda delivers a statement refusing to sign the bill stripping the rank of members of the communist military council, that imposed martial law in Warsaw, Poland, March 30, 2018. Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski/ via REUTERS
“I refuse to sign this bill and I am sending it back to parliament to discuss it again,” Duda said in a televised address, describing it as unfair.
FILE PHOTO: General Wojciech Jaruzelski speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Warsaw, Poland May 7, 2008. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
The bill would have reduced to the rank of private those generals and military officers who served on the military council which ran Poland during communist times from December 1981 until July 1983, many of who are now deceased.
They would have had no right of appeal.
Duda’s move may be seen as a bid to improve his chances for re-election in 2020. Support for the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), his ally, fell 12 percentage points over one month in a poll published on Thursday.
“One has to remember that a president who wants to win in the first or second round has to win much more votes than the ruling party in a general election,” Rafal Chwedoruk, a political scientist from Warsaw University, said.
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) awards a medal "for services to developing space" to Polish astronaut Miroslaw Hermaszewski at an awards ceremony devoted to achievements in the space programme in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia April 12, 2011. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin/File Photo
“A recent poll has shown that the vast majority of Poles are against demoting generals. ... The number of PiS voters from villages and small towns accepted the decision on imposing martial law,” Chwedoruk said.
The PiS has made much of its efforts to erase the legacy of four decades of post-war Soviet-dominated communist rule and restore what it considers to be Poland’s true identity - even though some leading PiS figures are former communists.
The law would demote to the rank of private members of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), led by the late generals Wojciech Jaruzelski and Czeslaw Kiszczak.
www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-politics-martial/polands-president-vetoes-bill-demoting-martial-law-officers-idUSKBN1H6130
Poland's president vetoes bill demoting martial law officers
Reuters Staff
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s president Andrzej Duda, an ally of the right-wing government, on Friday vetoed a law that would demote Communist military officers who were responsible for introducing martial law in 1981.
Poland's president Andrzej Duda delivers a statement refusing to sign the bill stripping the rank of members of the communist military council, that imposed martial law in Warsaw, Poland, March 30, 2018. Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski/ via REUTERS
“I refuse to sign this bill and I am sending it back to parliament to discuss it again,” Duda said in a televised address, describing it as unfair.
FILE PHOTO: General Wojciech Jaruzelski speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Warsaw, Poland May 7, 2008. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
The bill would have reduced to the rank of private those generals and military officers who served on the military council which ran Poland during communist times from December 1981 until July 1983, many of who are now deceased.
They would have had no right of appeal.
Duda’s move may be seen as a bid to improve his chances for re-election in 2020. Support for the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), his ally, fell 12 percentage points over one month in a poll published on Thursday.
“One has to remember that a president who wants to win in the first or second round has to win much more votes than the ruling party in a general election,” Rafal Chwedoruk, a political scientist from Warsaw University, said.
FILE PHOTO: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) awards a medal "for services to developing space" to Polish astronaut Miroslaw Hermaszewski at an awards ceremony devoted to achievements in the space programme in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia April 12, 2011. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin/File Photo
“A recent poll has shown that the vast majority of Poles are against demoting generals. ... The number of PiS voters from villages and small towns accepted the decision on imposing martial law,” Chwedoruk said.
The PiS has made much of its efforts to erase the legacy of four decades of post-war Soviet-dominated communist rule and restore what it considers to be Poland’s true identity - even though some leading PiS figures are former communists.
The law would demote to the rank of private members of the Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), led by the late generals Wojciech Jaruzelski and Czeslaw Kiszczak.