Marek Jurek (; 28 June 1960 in

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

, Poland) is a right-wing politician and a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. Since 20 April 2007 he has been the leader of the aspirant party Right of the Republic. Politically, he is most known for being a

Marshal of the Sejm The Marshal of the Sejm (, ) is the speaker (chair) of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. The office traces its origins to the 15th century. In modern Poland, the full title is Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (). ...

in the years 2005–2007.

Biography

He is a graduate in history from

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań The Adam Mickiewicz University (; Latin: ''Universitas Studiorum Mickiewicziana Posnaniensis'') is a research university in Poznań, Poland. Due to its history, the university is traditionally considered among Poland's most reputable institution ...

. In the 1980s he was an activist in the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

movement in Poland. After the fall of the communism in 1989, he was one of the founders of the now defunct political party

Christian National Union The Christian National Union (, ZChN)Maher (2004), p. 3458 was a Christian-democratic and nationalist political party in Poland. Established on 15 September 1989, the party traced its tradition to the Solidarity movement (both the trade union an ...

. He was a deputy in the

Contract Sejm Contract Sejm () is a term commonly applied to the Sejm ("parliament") elected in the Polish parliamentary elections of 1989. The ''contract'' refers to an agreement reached by the Polish United Workers' Party and the Solidarność ("solidarity ...

and later in the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of the Republic of Poland from 1991 to 1993. From 1995 to 2001 he was a member of the National Broadcasting Council. In 2001, he was elected a deputy of the

again, this time as a member of the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

party. On 26 October 2005 he was elected a Sejm

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

(parliament speaker) nominated by

with 265 votes (133 votes were given to

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who was the fifth president of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski previously served as Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Minister of National Defence ...

from

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

). On 13 April 2007 he resigned from the post, following the Sejm's failure to amend the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

to protect prenatal life. On the following day, he left Law and Justice to found his own party, now known as the Right of the Republic. His resignation was accepted on 27 April 2007. In the parliamentary election in 2007 his party did not win any seats in the Parliament as it found itself below the

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

. On 22 June 2008 Marek Jurek took part in a by-election to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, held in

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014. The functional ...

-constituency following the death of Senator Andrzej Mazurkiewicz. With 10 751 votes, he gained the third place after the winner Stanisław Zając (

) and Maciej Lewicki (Civic Platform). As there was only one seat available in the Senate, Marek Jurek remains outside the Parliament. On 27 September 2009, Jurek was awarded the Commander's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

for outstanding contribution to the independence of Polish Republic, for activities on behalf of democratic change, for achievements in undertaken for the benefit of the country and social work. He was one of the candidates in the

2010 Polish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Poland on 20 June 2010. As no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, a second round was held on 4 July 2010. Bronisław Komorowski, the acting President of Poland and vice-chairman of the C ...

, but received only 1.06% of votes and failed to get into the second round.

Political positions

Marek Jurek declared full support for the teaching of the Catholic Church as he opposes abortion, euthanasia, same sex unions and in vitro. He supports the traditional family model. He supports the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. Jurek is in favor of bringing the future back to the Polish and European traditions, cultivating a

Christian civilization Christianity has been intricately intertwined with the History of Western civilization, history and formation of Western society. Throughout history of Christianity, its long history, the Christian Church, Church has been a major source of so ...

and Latin culture. He is a supporter of the " Tridentine Rite".

References

External links

Sejm Marshal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurek, Marek 1960 births Living people People from Gorzów Wielkopolski Polish traditionalist Catholics Solidarity Citizens' Committee politicians Christian National Union politicians Law and Justice politicians Right Wing of the Republic politicians Marshals of the Sejm of the Third Polish Republic Members of the Contract Sejm Members of the Polish Sejm 1991–1993 Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005 Members of the Polish Sejm 2005–2007 Candidates in the 2010 Polish presidential election 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta MEPs for Poland 2014–2019 European Christian Political Party politicians