Marek Surmacz - Advisor to the President
Born on 31 January 1955 in Gorzów Wielkopolski. In 1974, Marek Surmacz graduated from Technikum Melioracji Wodnych (Water Drainage Secondary School) in his home city. He is a graduate of Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowej (State Higher Vocational School) in Gorzów Wielkopolski and the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Szczecin.
He worked in Gorzowskie Przedsiębiorstwo Budownictwa Przemysłowego (Gorzów Enterprise for Industrial Construction) in the Engineering Team and in the Production Preparation Department. From 1977 to 1996 he worked in the Militia Voivodeship Headquarters and Police Headquarters in Gorzów, where, within the last years, he controlled the Highway Department in Gorzów and worked in the Criminal Department. Between 1983 and 1989 he was frequently falsely accused and, as a result of such false accusations, often demoted. In 1989 he was one of the founders of the trade union of militia officers. At the request of the Regional Management of NSZZ Solidarity he became a member of the Voivodeship Recruitment Commission for officers of the former Security Services in 1990. In 1996 he was dismissed from the police on disciplinary grounds for the alleged “infringement of principles concerning the apolitical nature of the service”.
During the periods of 1990-2000 and 2002-2005 he was a councillor for the City of Gorzów Wielkopolski, a deputy chairman of the City Council in 1994-1998, and a chairman of the Audit Committee in 2003-2005. In 1990-1992 and for several months of 1998 he was a member of the municipal council of Gorzów Wielkopolski.
Between 1997 and 2005 he had worked in Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz’s parliamentary office.
In the parliamentary elections of 2005 he was elected to the Sejm of the Fifth Term; at this he was supported by the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) party. Until 18 October 2006 he was a vice-president of the Commission of Administration and Internal Affairs, and from March to June 2006 he controlled the activity of the extraordinary commission that was established to review the bills proposed by the President that concerned military services. He has also worked in the Justice and Human Rights Commission and in the Foreign Commission.
On 24 August 2006, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Jarosław Kaczyński, nominated Marek Surmacz as the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. As the Secretary of State, Marek Surmacz was responsible for supervising the police services, border guards and the Government Protection Bureau. He performed this function until 18 May 2007.
For saving the life of a drowning man in 1985, he was honoured with the “For Sacrifice and Courage” medal. He also won the Viktoria award, which award was presented to him by the Gorzów Region, in 1989. He is married; his wife works in Gorzowskie Centrum Pomocy Rodzinie i Polityki Społecznej (Gorzów Centre for Family Assistance and Social Policies). Marek Surmacz has three grown up children and one grandson, Antoni.