Ewa Kopacz (born Ewa Lis; December 3, 1956) is a Polish politician and currently the Prime Minister of Poland. Previously she was the Speaker of the Sejm, the first woman to have held the post. In addition, she was Minister of Health from November 2007 until November 2011. Kopacz has been a member of the Civic Platform since 2001.[1] Kopacz became Prime Minister on September 22, 2014, succeeding Donald Tusk; she is the second woman to hold the office after Hanna Suchocka.[2] Prior to entering politics, she was a pediatrician and a general practitioner.[3]
Kopacz has been described as one of the leaders of the European Union, and was ranked as the world's 40th most powerful woman by Forbes magazine in 2015, placing her ahead of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Ellen DeGeneres.[4]
Contents
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Early life 1
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Political activities 2
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Sejm of the Republic of Poland 2.1
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Minister of Health 2.2
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Prime Minister 2.3
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References 3
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External links 4
Early life
Ewa Kopacz was born in Skaryszew. She is the daughter of Mieczysław and Krystyna Lis. Her father was employed as a mechanic and her mother worked as a tailor. She was raised in the city of Radom, where she graduated from high school. In 1981 she graduated from the Medical University of Lublin. She received second-degree specialisation in family medicine and a first degree in the field of pediatrics. She worked at the clinics in the villages of Orońsko and Chlewiska, then town of Szydłowiec, where until 2001 she headed the local health care facility.
Political activities
In the 1980s, Kopacz joined the United People's Party.
In the 1990s, she joined the Freedom Union and chaired the party's structures in the province of Radom. In the local elections in 1998, the regional council elected her as the councilor for the Masovian Voivodship.
In 2001, Kopacz left the Freedom Union to join the newly established Civic Platform political party. She was then elected to the Parliament in 2005, where she became head of the Health Committee. She worked as the chairperson of the Civic Platform structures of Masovia.
Sejm of the Republic of Poland
Kopacz was first elected as a deputy to the Sejm in 2001.[1] She was subsequently re-elected in 2005, 2007 and 2011. In November 2011, she was elected the Marshal of the Sejm.[5]
Minister of Health
In 2009 Kopacz gained some degree of international fame by requesting pharmaceutical companies to present the advantages of swine flu vaccines, and demanding they take full responsibility for the side effects. She advised the Polish government to wait until proper testing had been done on the vaccine before investing in it, citing the fact that seasonal flu exceeds the current WHO criteria for pandemic every year but there has been no declaration of a pandemic of this much more dangerous seasonal flu.[6] The Polish government refused to purchase the vaccine in question.
Pro-life activists in Poland had called for her excommunication after she was involved in arranging, in accordance with Polish law, an abortion for a 14-year-old girl, citing Canon 1398, which automatically sanctions anyone who allows the procedure to occur.[7]
Prime Minister
On September 22, 2014 Ewa Kopacz was sworn in as Prime Minister, after Donald Tusk resigned to take office as President of the European Council, and formed a cabinet.[8][9] On November 8, 2014 she was sworn in as leader of the Civic Platform.
References
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^ The World's 100 Most Powerful Women Forbes
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External links
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(Polish)
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Ewa Kopacz - parliamentary page (Polish) – includes declarations of interest, voting record, and transcripts of speeches
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