Marek Tadeusz Kuchciński (born 9 August 1955) is a member of 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' ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, first elected in 2001. Before 2015, he served the parliament as one of the Deputy Marshals of the Sejm, nominated by 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 ...

club, and also as the Parliamentary Caucus Head of the above-mentioned party. From 2015 to 2019, when his party possessed the majority of seats in both houses, he held the office of

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 (). ...

Early life

He studied history of art at the

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (, , abbreviation KUL) is a university established in 1918. History :pl:Idzi Radziszewski, Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Vladimir Lenin, Lenin allowed the priest ...

, but did not graduate.

Political career

In 1999, Kuchciński co-founded the "Europe of the Carpathians", an initiative of the

held at the

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshal, it is governed by the Subcarpathian Regional As ...

aimed at inspiring action for the sustainable development of the wider Carpathian region for those seven countries, Poland,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Originally, the project focused on Polish- Slovak- Ukrainian cooperation, but over time has grown as a result of which in recent years the format has become one of the most important platforms for the exchange of ideas between Carpathian countries. Politicians from Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, including thought leaders, Carpathian activists, experts and representatives of non-governmental organisations, meet on a cyclical basis. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, Kuchciński was elected again to the

and later was chosen to be the Parliamentary Caucus Head of the

, succeeding Przemysław Gosiewski. He chaired the Administration and Home Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2007. In the early 2007 parliamentary elections, Kuchciński was re-chosen to the Sejm as he obtained 35,060 votes in 22 -

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 ...

district. On 12 January 2008,

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician. He co-founded the Law and Justice (PiS) party in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, and has served as its leader since 2003. He served as Prime Minister of Pola ...

appointed Kuchciński as the Deputy Chairman of Law and Justice until he ceased to perform the aforementioned duty on 24 July 2010. On 10 April 2010, Kuchciński was designated by party leader Jarosław Kaczyński as the acting Parliamentary Caucus Head of the

party by succeeding Grażyna Gęsicka, after she was listed on the flight manifest of the

Tupolev Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 (; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, ...

of the 36th Special Aviation Regiment carrying the

President of Poland The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

which crashed near Smolensk-North airport near Pechersk near

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, killing Gęsicka and 95 others on board. He was selected as the new Deputy Marshal of the Sejm for

on 4 August 2010, after Krzysztof Putra's death in Smolensk. In the 2011 parliamentary elections, Kuchciński was re-elected as Member of the

and started from the first place in the

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

list of Law and Justice, by securing 23,128 votes. He was re-elected as the Law and Justice Deputy Marshal of the Sejm under

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold the office, as ...

on 8 November 2011. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, he successfully applied for re-election after his party won a historic victory, as Kuchciński obtained 34,558 votes. On 11 November 2015,

Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska Małgorzata Maria Kidawa-Błońska (née Grabska; Polish: ; born 5 May 1957) is a Polish politician, film producer, and sociologist currently serving as Marshal of the Senate. She was Marshal of the Sejm from 25 June 2015 to 11 November 2015 at ...

decided to resign her position as Marshal of the Sejm after her party

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 ...

failed to win a majority due to the party's poor performance in the recent election. On 12 November, Kuchciński was nominated by Law and Justice as a candidate for Marshal, he was elected to the office, by receiving a majority of 409 votes from the Sejm. His competitor, who is a political activist and Senior Marshal, Kornel Morawiecki from the

Kukiz'15 Kukiz'15 is a right-wing populist political party in Poland led by Paweł Kukiz. It was formed in 2015 as a loose movement that registered itself as an association in 2016 and later as a political party in 2020. Initially, it was connected wit ...

body, secured 42 votes.

Marshal of the Sejm (2015–2019)

December 2016 Polish protests

On 16 December 2016, during the session of the

, opposition deputy Michał Szczerba (from

party) came to the stage with the card which read "#WolneMediawSejmie" (hashtag "Free press in

") and attempted to fix it to the rostrum. After warnings, Kuchciński excluded him from the debate for disturbance and announced a break. According to plan, opposition deputies then occupied the podium and the plenary hall. Subsequently, the MPs of the Law and Justice party moved the meeting to the Hall of Columns, where the deputies voted on, among other matters, the budget for 2017. A number of MPs from the opposition who still occupied the plenary hall did not participate in the voting, and the vote count was done by a show of hands.

"Air Kuchciński" scandal and resignation

On 26 July 2019, Kuchciński's flights caused a lot of criticism in the media. The former Marshal of the Sejm travelled on numerous occasions accompanied by various Law and Justice deputies": Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk, Marshal of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship Władysław Ortyl, Chairman of the

Polish Press Agency The Polish Press Agency (, PAP) is Poland's national news agency, producing and distributing political, economic, social, and cultural news as well as events information. It was founded in 1918 as Polish Telegraphic Agency (PAT). PAP serves pri ...

, Law and Justice

MEPs A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been 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 Steel Comm ...

and other politicians, assistants and directors. The opposition ( Civic Coalition) accused him of using aeroplanes for private purposes On 5 August 2019, Kuchciński issued a statement admitting that he was accompanied by family members on 23 flights, and on one occasion his wife travelled without him. During the press conference he stressed that the flights he took were never on a private basis. Respecting the public demands, Kuchciński apologized and paid a total of 43,000 PLN ($11,190) for charitable purposes as reparation for the flights. He always maintained that he had not violated any law, and the Party leader

explained that the key problem was a lack of clear regulations for the use by officials of government flights. He noticed that former Prime Minister

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

took many more flights during his tenure. He travelled with his wife between

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and his home city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

520 times. The numbers shows that his flying activity cost almost 8 million PLN (about $2 million), while Kuchciński's cost 4 million PLN

Personal life

Marek Kuchciński is married with three children.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuchcinski, Marek 1955 births Law and Justice politicians Living people Marshals of the Sejm of the Third Polish Republic Deputy Marshals of the Sejm of the Third Polish Republic Members of the Polish Sejm 2001–2005 Members of the Polish Sejm 2005–2007 Members of the Polish Sejm 2007–2011 Members of the Polish Sejm 2011–2015 Members of the Polish Sejm 2015–2019 Members of the Polish Sejm 2019–2023 People from Przemyśl Members of the Polish Sejm 2023–2027