Wanda Nowicka: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
Nowicka had been an MP for the liberal, anti-clerical Palikot's Movement, which is the third largest party in Poland's parliament, but outside the current coalition government.
Party leader Janusz Palikot had specified that his MPs should not accept bonuses, owing to straitened economic circumstances following the credit crunch.
However, Nowicka accepted 40,000 zloty (9600 euro), when it was awarded through parliament by Speaker Ewa Kopacz.
“Today, the [Palikot's Movement] club and I went our separate ways,” Nowicka told reporters on Wednesday afternoon, after being expelled from her party, as quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Palikot had applied to have Nowicka removed from her position, but a majority of MPs, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-right Civic Platform, voted against Palikot's motion.
By keeping Nowicka on, MPs also prevented the possibility of transsexual MP Anna Grodzka taking the position, after Palikot declared that the latter was his party's chosen candidate.
Grodzka's potential accession had proved controversial, not least with conservative opposition party Law and Justice, the second largest party in the house.
Nowicka will now act as an independent MP, continuing in her role as deputy speaker.
She thanked her former party for “all the positive things that had connected us,” adding that she will continue to pursue key aspects of the party's liberal agenda, including the legalisation of civil partnerships.
Three draft bills on civil partnerships were rejected by parliament last month, in spite of Prime Minister Tusk's support for legislation on the matter.
In this regard, it is conceivable that Nowicka may soon have offers from either the Democratic Left Alliance or Civic Platform itself.
All in all, there are five deputy speakers in Poland's lower house of parliament, representing each of the parties that crossed the 5 percent threshold in the 2011 general election. (nh)