On 25 September, a solemn session of the Regional Assembly was held in the Silesian Parliament Hall in Katowice to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the local government, and thus the creation of the Silesian Voivodeship.
- The success of the self-government reform was possible because people from Silesia were responsible for the introduction of the reform, among them our leader, the then prime minister Jerzy Buzek, who led the government from 1997 to 2001 and whose backing was provided by five political parties," said the chairman of the assembly, Professor Marek Gzik.
As Jerzy Buzek stated: - From the beginning, we have been accompanied by the conviction that the condition for shaping and maintaining democracy is to reclaim the state for the citizens, to release social energy and the potential of individual creativity. Because democracy is not only a fair and honest election of public authorities, it is also the possibility for citizens to take joint responsibility for public affairs, for the state.
The Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship Jakub Chełstowski, on the other hand, stated: - Some people complained that there are such local governments, others, but a good leader, president, mayor, alderman, starost, marshal was able to breathe life, into these small homelands very strongly and thanks to that, this period of transformation in Silesia went quite smoothly. There are stars of the transformation, there are towns which have failed, but there are also people who have put their hearts into it.
During the ceremonial part of Monday's session of the Sejm, the former prime minister Jerzy Buzek, the long-serving treasurer of the Silesian Voivodeship Elżbieta Stolorz-Krzisz (who still holds this position), the former Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship Wojciech Saługa, the current Marshal Jakub Chełstowski, the former chairmen of the Sejm: Grzegorz Wolnik, Jan Kawulok, Andrzej Gościniak, Ryszard Ostrowski and Zbigniew Wieczorek, former Marshals Bogusław Śmigielski and Michał Czarski, as well as former Deputy Minister of Economy and Environment Bernard Błaszczyk and paediatrician and paediatric oncologist, Rector of the Silesian Medical University Professor Tomasz Szczepański. Congratulations to all the award winners!
Details of sender: Agata Pustułka
