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Tag: Supreme Audit Office

  • Opinion: The private war between head of Poland’s Supreme Audit Office and PiS

    Marian Banaś is conducting a private war against Law and Justice (PiS) in Poland, but what is scandalous is that he is doing so as the head of the one of the most important institutions in Poland, the Supreme Audit Office. To put it differently, he is using this state institution to carry out personal feuds with his former party which he regards as a deadly threat to his loved ones and himself ever since appropriate institutions began to officially investigate his financial holdings.

    The confirmation of NIK’s unfriendly and anti-government operation (which has not yet reached the phase of total war but has all the callings of guerrilla warfare) was Wednesday’s spectacle presented by NIK in the form of a press conference.

    During this grand event, Banaś presented a report about the allegedly illegal actions of the government who supposedly tried to illegally conduct correspondence voting in May 2020. The overpowering force of lawlessness which the prime minister and his subordinates were to have committed should have blown the government away even before the full presentation was over. Unfortunately for Banaś, he was unable to experience any such satisfaction.

    After the end of this pathetic and fake spectacle — fake because it was not only one-sided but even biased — the government still stands. The only positive experience for the NIK head after the conference was the swooning of journalists from the pro-Civic Platform media. I mention this because this image truly showed the mission which the report was meant to fulfil and who it was supposed to hurt.

    The actual culprits who are responsible for the May 10, 2020, presidential elections not taking place is the opposition, with the Civic Platform at its lead. Not only did they not suffer any consequences, they blamed PiS for the whole affair since the start of their boycott of the elections. Only after the boastfulness of some of its members are we learning the truth.

    At the end of April, the current head of the PO Parliamentary Club Cezary Tomczyk said proudly and with impunity that: “The Civic Platform threw correspondence voting out to weaken PiS, not strengthen it.”

    Some Poles believed that PO actually cared for the health and lives of their countrymen and about the proper conducting of elections. Today, Marian Banaś, who represents NIK, is not only just in the same line as the opposition when it comes to blocking the May 2020 elections, but he is speaking with the same voice as they are.  That is the saddest part and something that is very difficult to explain.

    Title image: In this Nov. 26, 2019, photo, Marian Banaś, right, the president of Poland’s Supreme Audit Office, arrives at Poland’s parliament, in Warsaw, Poland. Poland’s ruling right-wing party begins its second term caught up in a crisis over Banaś, who faces allegations of wrongdoing but refuses to resign and cannot easily be removed from his job, AP Images.

  • Polish Supreme Audit Office head under fire for fraud

    The head of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), Marian Banaś, says he is willing to resign but will not let himself become part of a “brutal political game.” The scandal around Banaś has severely damaged PiS’ image, leading to Jarosław Kaczyński himself to demand Banaś’ resignation.

    The NIK head released a statement in which he underlined that he is willing to resign from his position and answer the questions of investigators despite the immunity which comes with his position.

    “I was ready to resign from the position of the head of NIK. I have become the subject of a brutal political game. I am ready to answer any question investigators may have and explain any doubts. If need be, I will also relinquish my immunity as head of NIK,” Banaś wrote.

    He emphasized, however, that he cannot allow the institution to become the focus of a political struggle and “bartering”. He stressed that he had been chosen for his position in accordance with all procedures.

    “Only stable leadership will be able to provide the Office with efficient work and fulfillment of its constitutional obligations,” Banaś added, in what is many are interpreting as an attempt to keep his post despite the pressure from PiS leadership and the opposition.

    Banaś has denied any wrongdoing

    In September 2019, TVN network stated that Marian Banaś had written a Kraków tenement house, which was a guest house, into his financial disclosure. According to TVN, Banaś had lowered his income from the guest house in the disclosure.

    Banaś went on unpaid leave at the end of September while Polish special services (CBA) investigated his financial disclosures. Banaś had stated that he was not currently the owner of the guest house shown in TVN’s program and called the entire affair “an attempt at manipulation, defamation and discrediting his good name.”

    He also sued the author of the program.

    The CBA stated on Nov. 29 that it has filed a notice to the prosecutor’s office of the possibility of Banaś committing a crime. The notice was the result of the investigation into the disclosures.

    In the notice, the CBA points to suspicions that Banaś had filed false financial disclosures relating to his asset declarations, obfuscating his actual financial status and receiving income from undocumented sources.

    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed that he is aware of the report and believes that its conclusions should encourage Banaś to resign. 

    According to the Polish Constitution, the head of NIK is elected for a six-year term in office by the Lower House of Parliament, with the consent of the upper chamber, the Senate.

    There is no process in place for the recall of the head of NIK. He or she may only be removed if they are convicted of criminal acts or are certifiably unfit for duty due to health issues.