Donald Tusk’s government may be looking to block public money for the rival conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party despite the money being approved by the National Electoral Commission. If Tusk goes through with his threat that “there will be no money,” it would mark yet another radical violation of the rule of law in Poland.
Following a dispute, the National Electoral Commission adopted the financial report of the PiS electoral committee for the 2023 parliamentary elections, paving the way for Jarosław Kaczyński’s party to recover millions of zlotys from the state budget. The decision from the National Election Commission came after the Supreme Court ruled PIS was elgiible for the money.
However, according to Do Rzeczy, there is speculation in the media whether Finance Minister Andrzej Domański will block the payment of money owed to PiS based on a legal opinion. The ministry is currently looking for a lawyer, with Ilona Kowalska, director of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Finance, already having refused to prepare such an opinion, the portal claims, citing reports out of wPolityce.
More and more Civic Coalition (KO) politicians suggest that despite the approval of the PiS election committee report by the State Electoral Commission, Jarosław Kaczyński’s party will not receive the money it is owed. Prime Minister Donald Tusk even posted on social media that “there is no money and there will be no money,” referring to the famous statement by Jan Rostowski.
Meanwhile, the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Jan Grabiec, stated that he “cannot imagine” paying money to Law and Justice.
During the program “Rymanowski’s Breakfast” on Polsat News this past Sunday, politicians discussed what the finance minister would do in connection with the decision of the National Electoral Commission.
However, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak, who belongs to the Confederation party, says Andrzej Domański must transfer the money to the PiS account.
“Legal procedures must be respected,” the Confederation MP argued. Bosak’s statement was interrupted by KO’s Robert Kropiwnicki, who stated: “No, because this is how we play the PiS game!”
Boask responded: “I don’t intend to play what you play. You are a university lecturer in law and it’s a shame that you are twisting the subject. Many lawyers earn money by writing opinions on commission, and that’s normal. But if someone is a university lecturer, a professor, they should be an authority for society, not a legal prostitute.”
Boask was then asked to apologize by the chairwoman of the Left’s parliamentary group, Anna Maria Żukowska, and told, “You’re talking nonsense” by Robert Kropiwnicki.
Bosak then replied: “I’m talking about legal authorities prostituting themselves for political purposes. You’ve brought the authority of lawyers to such a low point that they’ll soon be laughing at you.”
Kropiwnicki then accused Bosak of “simply carried away because he’s the beneficiary of an agreement with PiS.”
