Szymon Hołownia
Speaker of the Sejm (House of Commons)
Szymon Hołownia has his own personal political party, but joined forces with the Peasant Party before the 2023 election when it looked like neither he nor the Peasant Party would make the threshold.
Former TV host
Hołownia is a former journalist and TV host in, among other things, a TV talent programme. He has no previous political experience, except that in 2020 he fought in the presidential election, where he came third. Hołownia has fought hard for his seat as speaker of the Sejm, which he eventually got on the condition that he will swap places with the left-wing representative in the government in 2 years.
Wants to be president
Right now, such an agreement is not a problem for Hołownia. His goal is to become president, and the presidential election will be held in May 2025. Here he presents himself as a candidate for an alternative path that does not involve bloc politics. The position of speaker of the Sejm is a highly televised position, and if used correctly, there is no doubt that it would be a great way to kick off a presidential campaign. And there’s no doubt that Hołownia is so accustomed to media and publicity that he can capitalise on that opportunity.
The Sejm’s new Speaker is a conservative. That is, he supports traditional values and opposes abortion. He does refer the abortion issue to a referendum, but it is probably mostly in the knowledge that the 50 per cent of eligible voters will not participate, and that is necessary to make the vote binding.
As mentioned, Hołownia has no political experience whatsoever. This was also the main argument against electing him to the post of President of the Sejm – a post that is usually given to older and experienced MPs. The position requires a good knowledge of routines, and in particular of the parliament’s rules of procedure.
However, the first term has shown that the chairman is good at memorising. He knows the parliament’s rules of procedure; he has demonstrated this during the first few days of the new parliament.
At the same time, the speaker tries to raise the level in the parliamentary chamber. He speaks politely to everyone, but asks that you keep a proper tone of voice. He does this with an effective intonation, and it’s pretty clear that he’s speaking more to the cameras and TV viewers than to parliament. But it is effective, and parliament, including his opponents, seems to show some respect for it.
If Hołownia continues the same way, he has a good chance of becoming president in 2025.
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