Antoni Macierewicz
Antoni Macierewicz was born 3 August 1948 in Warsaw. He is a member of Polish Parliament, former internal affairs minister, former vice-minister of national defence in Jarosław Kaczyński's government, and current parliamentary representative.
Political Career[edit]
Antoni Macierewicz was one of the organizers of the Solidarity (Polish trade union) in Warsaw. From 1968 to 1989 he was a prominent member of the democratic opposition to communist rule and one of the founders of the Workers' Defence Committee. He was arrested after Wojciech Jaruzelski's junta imposed martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981. After the fall of Communism he was Minister of Internal Affairs in Jan Olszewski's government (1991–1992).
In 1992 Macierewicz founded his own party (Polish Action) which soon ceased to exist. He then repaired his relations with Olszewski and joined his party (Movement for Reconstruction of Poland) and became his deputy in 1996. He ran for parliament on Olszewski ‘s party ticket. He left Olszewski again in 1997 to set up his own National Catholic Movement. In 2001 he joined a different party, the League of Polish Families and on their ticket was re-elected to parliament in 2001 but left them due to differences. In 2002 he tried to run for the mayor of Warsaw coming 8th on the ballot with 1.09% of popular vote.
Following the successful campaign of Lech Kaczyński and his twin brother in 2005 (presidential and parliamentary election) Macierewicz was called up by prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński to the post of deputy defense minister.
In July 2006, he was appointed to lead the closing of the Military Information Services, and upon finishing his task, he was the chief of the newly restructured military counter-intelligence service until the fall of Kaczyński government. On 16 February 2007 the closure report was published in Polish Monitor and it is known as 'Raport Macierewicza'. Later it was proven that the report contained a lot of fabricated information; and the Ministry of Defense had to pay over one million PLN for Macierewicz's slander.
In 2011, "Gazeta Polska" awarded Macierewicz the title of Man of the Year 2010.
Education[edit]
After getting his masters degree in history from Warsaw University Macierewicz began doctoral studies in the history of South America at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, but due to his involvement in the 1968 Polish political crisis he was arrested and his studies terminated.
