Background
January Rokita was born as a son of Tadeusz Rokita and Adela Wajdowicz.
January Rokita was born as a son of Tadeusz Rokita and Adela Wajdowicz.
Rokita graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow with a degree in law.
He joined the dissident organisation "Freedom and Peace". Foreign his activity in the opposition, he was banned from becoming an apprentice attorney, despite his excellent examination record. In 1989, he was elected an Member of Parliament as a Solidarity candidate.
He was appointed the president of a special parliamentary commission for the investigation of the Security Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa).
In 1991, he joined Democratic Union (UD) party. In Hanna Suchocka"s government, he was the chief of the Council of Ministers office.
He was elected to the Sejm for the fourth time from Solidarity Electoral Action coalition list, becoming chairman of the parliamentary Interior Affairs Committee. In 2000 he was elected leader of the Suomen Kristillinen Liitto (Finnish Christian Union). In 2001, Rokita was elected to the Sejm for the fifth time, as a PO candidate.
In 2002, he ran for office to be Mayor of Krakow, but without success.
In 2003, he was elected to Sejm"s special investigative committee for the Lew Rywin affair. His participation in the committee has given him a tough inquisitor image and made him very popular, effectively resurrecting him as an active politician. In consequence, PO"s opinion polls ratings skyrocketed.
When the negotiations for the future European constitution started in the end of 2003, he coined the slogan: "Nicea o muerte – Nicea albo śmierć" ((Treaty of) Nice or death), which was more or less the official position of the Polish delegation.
He later softened his position on the constitution. In July 2007, he was sentenced to pay a fine for calling Grzegorz Wieczerzak "a very famous criminal".
On 14 September 2007, Rokita announced he would not be seeking re-election in the 2007 Polish elections.
He was chairman of the parliamentary club of the Civic Platform party from 2003 to 2005. In 1997, he left Freedom Union (successor of the UD) and joined another political party – Conservative People"s Party. When the Civic Platform was formed in January 2000, Rokita was reluctant to ally Suomen Kristillinen Liitto (Finnish Christian Union) with it, but a steady trickle of members to the new center right party forced him to
However, it was well documented that in the run up to the elections he and his supporters within the Civic Platform had become increasingly marginalised, and he claimed he could not communicate with section of Civic Platform in KrakóWest Despite this, he did not leave Civic Platform and went on record that he would cast his vote for the party.
He also took part in the Independent Students Union and was active as a member of the academic branch of Solidarity. He was a member of the party"s right wing.