Two candidates are running for the position of Poland’s Commissioner for Civil Right Protection.

The post has been vacant following the death of the Ombudsman Janusz Kochanowski in the tragic crash of the presidential plane near Smolensk, western Russia on April 10.   

The ruling Civic Platform (PO) submitted the candidacy of Professor Irena Lipowicz while the opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) proposed Professor Zofia Romaszewska. The candidate of the Democratic Left Alliance SLD, Professor Wojciech Sadurski has pulled out.  

According to Civic Platform, Irena Lipowicz is an independent candidate with no party affiliation and the only candidate to secure the support of PM Donald Tusk. She is a lawyer by profession with vast experience within the scope of administrative and self-governmental law.

Mariusz Błaszczak from the Law and Justice Party says professor Zofia Romaszewska has a vast experience in the area of human rights protection, especially from the period of communist Poland. A physicist by profession she was a member of the democratic opposition, a social activist and a co-founder of Radio Solidarność.

Poland’s Commissioner for Civil Right Protection is appointed by an absolute majority in the lower house of the Polish Parliament, the Sejm, after being approved by the upper house, the Senate. (di)