A bonus of 456.000 zlotys was paid to speakers of the Polish parliament and ministers at the Chancellery of the Sejm.

The sum was divided between Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, his four deputies and three ministers in the Chancellery, claims a report by the Rzeczpospolita daily.

The allocation of bonus money was decided during the recent gathering of the Presidium of the Sejm. It is said that Bronislaw Komorowski decided personally to divide the sum. The approval, which allowed Komorowski to receive the bonus, was signed by the chief of the Chancellery and one of the deputy speakers. 

“The bonuses were paid exactly according to the same rules which where applied in other central offices in Poland,” reads a press statement by the Chancellery of the Sejm.

Those rules, however, have been changed this year and the bonuses will not be paid next year. 

An MP from the ruling Civic Platform says that at a time when ordinary Poles are having to tighten their belts as real incomes fall, the huge bonuses will not go down well with voters or ordinary members of parliament. “Everybody keeps talking about savings, no bonuses, expenditure on MPs’ offices cut down. And then these people from the Presidium give themselves so high bonuses,” says the anonymous source tells Rzeczpospolita. “It’s hypocracy.”

A few days ago, Miroslaw Drzewiecki, the Minister of Sports and Tourism, paid 110.000 Polish zlotys to each of the presidents of the PL2012 company in bonuses. When this was revealed, the money was quickly returned. (ps/pg)