Silesian Autonomy Movement: Difference between revisions
The programme of the Silesian Autonomy Movement has evolved somewhat over the years, from supporting the idea of a return to pre-World War II autonomy to the project of a modern organic statute, whose authors modelled themselves on the autonomy solutions of Catalonia. The early years of the 21st century saw a generational change in the party’s authorities. The members of the new party structures felt that the organic statute of 1920 corresponded to that reality, but that in the 21st century the situation required solutions that moved with the times. An expression of these trends was the new draft organic statute for Silesia, which was announced in 2010. According to the new draft, the autonomous unit would be called the Autonomous Region of Upper Silesia, which would form part of the territory of the Republic of Poland. Executive authority would be exercised by a prime minister together with a government, elected by a bicameral parliament. The government thus elected would be appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland. In addition to these political institutions, the region is to have its own administrative court, the Upper Silesian Administrative Court, whose president would be appointed by the President of Poland. The seat of the court would be in Opole.
The programme of the Silesian Autonomy Movement has evolved somewhat over the years, from supporting the idea of a return to pre-World War II autonomy to the project of a modern organic statute, whose authors modelled themselves on the autonomy solutions of Catalonia. The early years of the 21st century saw a generational change in the party’s authorities. The members of the new party structures felt that the organic statute of 1920 corresponded to that reality, but that in the 21st century the situation required solutions that moved with the times. An expression of these trends was the new draft organic statute for Silesia, which was announced in 2010. According to the new draft, the autonomous unit would be called the Autonomous Region of Upper Silesia, which would form part of the territory of the Republic of Poland. Executive authority would be exercised by a prime minister together with a government, elected by a bicameral parliament. The government thus elected would be appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland. In addition to these political institutions, the region is to have its own administrative court, the Upper Silesian Administrative Court, whose president would be appointed by the President of Poland. The seat of the court would be in Opole.
The policy of supporting regionalism and explicitly excluding nationalist slogans in the programme caused some RAŚ members, for whom the issue of Silesian nationality was a priority, to establish a separate organisation – the Union of Silesian Nationalities. Some publicists believed that this decision was motivated by a desire to obtain the status of a national minority and thus to receive, like the German minority, a guaranteed pool of seats in parliament. Between 1997 and 2004, the founding committee was headed by the later chairman of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, Jerzy Gorzelik. In 2004, Silesian nationalist activists led by Andrzej Roczniok took over. Since then, relations between the two organisations have deteriorated. RAŚ activists claim that the ZLNŚ extreme harms the idea of regionalism. This was particularly evident in the RAŚ authorities’ comments on the controversial statements made by the chairman of the Union of Silesian Nationalities, Andrzej Roczniok. Gorzelik would go on to found the [[Silesian Separatist Movement]]. J. Dziadul, Jaskółka kala gniazdo, „Polityka” 2000, nr 18, p. 29–30.
The policy of supporting regionalism and explicitly excluding nationalist slogans in the programme caused some RAŚ members, for whom the issue of Silesian nationality was a priority, to establish a separate organisation – the Union of Silesian Nationalities. Some publicists believed that this decision was motivated by a desire to obtain the status of a national minority and thus to receive, like the German minority, a guaranteed pool of seats in parliament. Between 1997 and 2004, the founding committee was headed by the later chairman of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, Jerzy Gorzelik. In 2004, Silesian nationalist activists led by Andrzej Roczniok took over. Since then, relations between the two organisations have deteriorated. RAŚ activists claim that the ZLNŚ extreme harms the idea of regionalism. This was particularly evident in the RAŚ authorities’ comments on the controversial statements made by the chairman of the Union of Silesian Nationalities, Andrzej Roczniok. would go on to the [[Silesian Separatist Movement]]. J. Dziadul, Jaskółka kala gniazdo, „Polityka” 2000, nr 18, p. 29–30.
==Polish parliamentary…
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