Małgorzata Sekuła-Szmajdzińska came to our city at the invitation of the women from the Bolesławiec Amazons Club, who on Friday, June 17, celebrated their 20th anniversary. “I must admit, I shed a tear,” the former parliamentarian says. “For the last several years, when I was an MP, I had warm, close relations with the Bolesławiec Amazons. But I did not expect to be welcomed like that. I even received a commemorative distinction.”
During the Amazons’ anniversary gala, the Democratic Left Alliance activist appealed to men to think about prevention as well. “Women are somewhat better at taking care of this and thinking about themselves. Men are worse at it,” M. Sekuła-Szmajdzińska said in an interview with “ii”.
The politician also mentioned that on June 4 she took part in a KOD march for the first time. “This is not a political party; it is a social movement. And that is very good,” the former MP stressed. “I am not a KOD activist; I took part in the event because June 4, 1989, is an important date. It was the first step toward freedom.”
What does she think of the new government? “We are living in interesting times, but somewhat sad ones. For an average person who has life and financial problems, issues concerning the prosecutor’s office, human rights or the Constitutional Tribunal are very distant,” she noted. “I see how much support PiS has today. It is hard to blame people, since they receive a gift from the state in the form of the 500+ benefit, and something else will probably appear as well. At this stage I can only observe; I have no opportunity to speak out. Sometimes, when I look at the Sejm rostrum, I think to myself: oh, if only I could go up there and tell them what I think!”
The SLD activist has grievances against Civic Platform. “I resent the colleagues from the party that governed the country for eight years for the fact that, during its second term, they genuinely decided that they had arranged everything in our country so well that they did not need to do anything. On top of that, there were scandals, both minor and major. People saw it and wanted something to change,” she concludes.
She was equally critical of some decisions made by her own party: “The reason we did not enter the Sejm was the bad decisions of my colleagues, starting with Ms. Magdalena Ogórek. We fell short by approximately 0.45%. And the result is that we are the only European country without a left wing. If we had entered the Sejm, Jarosław Kaczyński would have had to form a coalition. And then things would have been completely different.”
In her view, what Polish politics needs most is an influx of young people: “I miss fresh, young blood. Poland needs sensible, intelligent and cool young people on the left.”
How does she remember her work in the Sejm? “I can look people in the face and say that I worked honestly and decently. In fact, I received the ‘Polityka’ award three times in a row,” she noted. “But I was not active in the media. And the average citizen probably associates only those people who never leave television, such as Jacek Sasin from PiS. After the last sitting of the Sejm, a young journalist approached me. He said that he was asking various MPs from various parties whom they would like to see in the new Sejm, but not from their own party. He added: ‘And do you know whom they mention? You.’ That says something.”
“I am someone who values personal contact most; no media or the internet can replace it,” Małgorzata Sekuła-Szmajdzińska said. “Today I spoke with the mayor, Piotr Roman, about how we miss courtyards. Because there was real life in the courtyard. Today, the average level of children’s physical fitness is not the best. A smartphone can be more important than exercise. And things used to be better because there was a courtyard…”
The former parliamentarian also revealed to us that she has a soft spot for our city: “I once told the mayor that the first summer camp I attended was right here in Bolesławiec. It is the kind of place where I always feel at home.”