Jan Rokita

Jan Rokita (pronounced|ˈjan rɔˈkʲita, born June 18, 1959 in Kraków) is a Polish conservative politician, a member of the Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament. He was chairman of the parliamentary club of Platforma Obywatelska ("Civic Platform") from 2003 to 2005.

Rokita graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków with a degree in law. He joined the dissident organisation"Wolność i Pokój" (WiP, "Freedom and Peace"). He also took part in the student group NZS and was active as a member of the academic branch of Solidarity. For his activity in the opposition, he was banned from becoming an apprentice attorney, despite his excellent examination record.

In 1989 he was elected an MP as a Solidarity candidate. He was appointed the president of a special parliamentary commission for the investigation of the Communist Security Police (Służba Bezpieczeństwa). In 1991 he joined Democratic Union ("Unia Demokratyczna") party. He was a member of the party's right wing.

In Hanna Suchocka's government he was the chief of the Council of Ministers office. In 1995 he was the co-founder of the "3/4 initiative" - a movement created in order to prevent Aleksander Kwaśniewski from winning the presidential elections and refused to support his party's candidate Jacek Kuroń.

In 1997 he left Freedom Union ("Unia Wolności") (successor of the UD) and joined another political party — Conservative-People's Party (Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe). He was elected to the Sejm for the fourth time from AWS coalition list, becoming chairman of the parliamentary Interior Affairs Committee. In 2000 he was elected leader of the SKL.

When the Civic Platform ("Platforma Obywatelska") was formed in January 2000, Rokita was reluctant to ally SKL with it, but a steady trickle of members to the new center right party forced him to.

In 2001 Rokita was elected to the Sejm for the fifth time, as a PO candidate. In 2002 he ran for office to be Mayor of Kraków, but without success.

In 2003 he was elected to Sejm's special investigative committee for the Lew Rywin affair. His participation in the committee has given him a tough inquisitor image and made him very popular, effectively resurrecting him as an active politician. In consequence, PO's opinion polls ratings sky-rocketed.

When the negotiations for the future European constitution started in the end of 2003, he coined the slogan: "Nicea o muerte - Nicea albo śmierć" ((Treaty of) Nice or death), which was more or less the official position of the Polish delegation. He later softened his position on the constitution.

He is married to his second wife Nelly Rokita, an ethnic German from Chelyabinsk, Russia. Nelly has a daughter from her first marriage.

In July 2007 he was sentenced to pay a fine for calling Grzegorz Wieczerzak a famous criminal. [Cite web|url= http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,76842,4313595.html|title= Rokita skazany za przezwanie Wieczerzaka|accessdate= 2007-09-15|date= July 13, 2007|publisher= Gazeta Wyborcza|language= Polish]

On September 14, 2007 Rokita announced he would not be seeking re-election in the 2007 Polish elections. Officially, he claimed it was because of his wife Nelly's decision to enter Polish politics as an advisor to President Lech Kaczyński (affiliated with the right-wing Law and Justice Party). However, it was well documented that in the run up to the elections he and his supporters within the Citizen's Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) had become increasingly marginalised, and he claimed he could not communicate with section of Platforma Obywatelska in Kraków. Despite this, he did not leave Platforma and went on record that he would cast his vote for the party.

References

External links

* [http://www.janrokita.pl/ Personal webpage]
* [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=392 POLAND'S ELECTIONS: Jan Rokita: The Triumph of the Politician - Intellectual ]