Jan Rokita
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Jan Rokita (born June 18, 1959 in Kraków) is a Polish liberal-conservative politician, a member of Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament, and chairman of the parliamentery club of Platforma Obywatelska (Citizens' Platform).
Rokita graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków with a degree in law. He joined a dissident "Wolność i Pokój" (WiP, "Freedom and Peace") organization. He also took part in the student NZS group and was active as a member of the academic branch of Solidarity. For his activity in the opposition he was banned from becoming an attorney apprentice, 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 investigation of the Communist Security Police (Służba Bezpieczeństwa). In 1991 he joined a Polish political party called (Democratic Union Unia Demokratyczna) (UD). 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 the leftist 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 the leader of SKL.
When the Citizens' 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 the office of the 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 Kyrgyzstan. Nelly has a daughter from her first marriage.
[edit] External links
| Parliamentary caucus heads of Civic Platform |
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| Maciej Płażyński | Jan Rokita | Donald Tusk |
Categories: 1959 births | Living people | People from Kraków | Solidarity activists | Polish lawyers | Roman Catholic politicians | Members of Polish Sejm 1991-1993 | Members of Polish Sejm 1993-1997 | Members of Polish Sejm 1997-2001 | Platforma Obywatelska politicians | Members of Polish Sejm 2001-2005 | Members of Polish Sejm 2005-2009
