Poland’s former conservative prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, will appear on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw to face charges of exceeding his authority in connection with the organization of the so-called “envelope elections” in 2020, according to Salon24.
Investigators accuse Morawiecki of acting without a legal basis as prime minister, issuing an order to prepare elections in correspondence mode before the relevant act came into force. As a consequence of the prime minister’s decision, Poczta Polska and the State Security Printing Works began printing ballots and organizing the vote.
Ultimately, the elections in this form did not take place, and Morawiecki’s decision was deemed by the administrative court to be a gross violation of the law.
Morawiecki defended himself, claiming that he acted in accordance with the constitution and in the interests of citizens.
“All my decisions were dictated by the will to act in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and in the interests of the Republic of Poland, including in particular the obligation to protect the lives and health of citizens and to ensure their ability to exercise their constitutional rights to democratically elect the President of the Republic of Poland,” he said.
The decision of the administrative court, which became final in June 2024, found that the prime minister had no authority to organize the elections and had violated, among other things, the constitution and the Electoral Code.
However, the District Court of Warsaw-Śródmieście had earlier found — after the parliamentary elections in the fall of 2023 — that Morawiecki had not broken the law. The court dismissed the appeal of the President of the Supreme Audit Office and upheld the decision of the Warsaw prosecutor’s office to refuse to initiate an investigation into the so-called envelope elections.
The conservative leader has been focused on Poland’s upcoming elections. In an interview with Mario Nawfal posted on X, he said, “There is no democracy without media pluralism and freedom of speech – especially on the internet! I will defend this right against the attempts of the current government and EU institutions.”
“Why are the upcoming presidential elections so important? Because they will determine whether Poland will oppose regulations, bureaucracy, and the usurpation of EU institutions, or whether it will be a stronghold of common sense and the revolution of normality,” Morawiecki added.
