Poland's parliament on Friday elected interior minister Elzbieta Witek as speaker, replacing Marek Kuchcinski who was forced to quit over an expenses scandal involving use of government aircraft for personal travel.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later appointed secret service chief Mariusz Kaminski as the new interior minister, the government press office said.
Kuchcinski appeared to have bowed to pressure from his ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party as it gears up for a general election in October.
However, both Kuchcinski and powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski insisted that he had not broken any laws when using government planes and helicopters.
He did so around 100 times in just over a year, according to media reports.
Witek, who is also a PiS member and had served as interior minister since May, resigned just hours before being elected.
With the PiS commanding a majority in parliament, former primary school head teacher Witek won backing from 245 of the 419 lawmakers present in the 460-seat lower house.
Despite the uproar over Kuchcinski and allegations that other PiS-appointed or allied public officials have misused public funds, the party is set to win the October 13 general election, according to opinion polls.
The PiS is outpacing the splintered centrist and leftist opposition thanks to generous social spending, tax exemptions for workers under 26 as well as a highly divisive anti-LGBT crusade.
LGBT rights became a hot-button issue in the staunchly Catholic EU country after Kaczynski dubbed them a "threat" to society in April and put the issue high on his party's campaign agenda.
Poland’s parliament on Friday elected interior minister Elzbieta Witek as speaker, replacing Marek Kuchcinski who was forced to quit over an expenses scandal involving use of government aircraft for personal travel.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later appointed secret service chief Mariusz Kaminski as the new interior minister, the government press office said.
Kuchcinski appeared to have bowed to pressure from his ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party as it gears up for a general election in October.
However, both Kuchcinski and powerful PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski insisted that he had not broken any laws when using government planes and helicopters.
He did so around 100 times in just over a year, according to media reports.
Witek, who is also a PiS member and had served as interior minister since May, resigned just hours before being elected.
With the PiS commanding a majority in parliament, former primary school head teacher Witek won backing from 245 of the 419 lawmakers present in the 460-seat lower house.
Despite the uproar over Kuchcinski and allegations that other PiS-appointed or allied public officials have misused public funds, the party is set to win the October 13 general election, according to opinion polls.
The PiS is outpacing the splintered centrist and leftist opposition thanks to generous social spending, tax exemptions for workers under 26 as well as a highly divisive anti-LGBT crusade.
LGBT rights became a hot-button issue in the staunchly Catholic EU country after Kaczynski dubbed them a “threat” to society in April and put the issue high on his party’s campaign agenda.
