New minister of Agriculture Poland
On September 30, a reshuffle in the Cabinet of Ministers was announced in Poland. One of the changes is a new Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, mr Grzegorz Puda. He will take the place of mr Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, who was suspended from the Law & Justice party (PiS) following a vote against a draft law on Animal Protection.
Grzegorz Puda (13 July, 1982) is the new Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry and member of the Law & Justice Party (PiS).
He is one of the new faces in the reconstructed government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Puda is the current secretary of state at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. In the new, reconstructed government, he will take the place of Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, becoming the head of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Grzegorz Puda is a graduate of the Agricultural University in Krakow. In 2006 he obtained the professional title of Master of Science in Animal Science (zootechnics). In the same year - as well as in 2010 and 2014 - he obtained the mandate of a city councilor in Bielsko-Biała, from the Law and Justice (PIS) lists.
In 2015, Puda ran for the Sejm - in the parliamentary elections he ran from the eighth place on the PiS list in the Bielsko district. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) of the 8th term of office.
In July 2019, he was appointed the secretary of state in the Ministry of Investment and Development by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
In the 2019 elections, he managed to win a parliamentary seat again. He is a member of three parliamentary committees: European Union Affairs, Infrastructure, and Culture and Media.
In November 2019, Grzegorz Puda took the position of the Secretary of State (deputy Minister) in the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, and in January 2020 he became the government's plenipotentiary for the organization of the World City Forum in 2022.
Five for Animals
Recently, Grzegorz Puda was the proposer of the draft Act on Animal Protection, known as “Five for Animals”. The draft "Five for animals" involves, among others a ban on breeding animals for fur, on the use of animals for entertainment and shows, and allows ritual slaughter only for the needs of national religious associations.
The file was passed in Sejm (lower house of parliament) on 18 September, with 356 votes in favor, 75 against (including several members of PIS and all Solidarity Poland) and 18 abstentions (mostly from Agreement), and now is proceeded by the Senate.
Former minister Ardanowski voted against the "5 for Animals" and was suspended from the Law&Justice Party (PiS), but remained minister in the meantime. During a demonstration of farmers in Warsaw against the "5 for Animals" on September 30, farmers showed their support for former minister Ardanowski.