The former head of RARS appeared before the extradition division of the court in London. Małgorzata Manowska caused a stir in the Supreme Court with her decisions. In turn, Law and Justice announced its opposition to the decision of the National Electoral Commission to reject the party's financial report. Here are five things to know on Wednesday, September 4.
1. Former RARS chief refuses extradition, will remain in custody
Michał K. appeared before the Extradition Division of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. During the hearing, K. confirmed his personal details and did not consent to voluntary extradition.
A British court has refused to allow the former RARS chief to post bail so he can remain free and answer to charges. This means K. will remain in custody until his extradition hearing.
READ ALSO: He refused to be extradited and will remain in custody.
2. Confusion in the Supreme Court
Due to the failure to select candidates for the position of president of the Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court, until the president entrusts these duties to a selected judge, the first president of the Supreme Court Malgorzata Manowska authorized judge Dawid Miąsik to perform activities related to the management of the Labor Chamber – the Supreme Court informed in a press release.
Earlier that day, Manowska announced that she was taking over the Labour Chamber after the term of office of its current president ended. The “old” judges of the Chamber protested and emphasized that according to the regulations, the duties of the president of the Chamber should be assumed by judge Miąsik.
3. PiS reacts to the National Electoral Commission's decision
The National Electoral Commission rejected the financial report of the PiS committee for the 2023 parliamentary elections on Thursday and accused it of irregularities in financing the campaign in the amount of PLN 3.6 million. The PiS subsidy will be reduced by PLN 10 million. The party may also be deprived of the subsidy for 3 years. PiS has the right to appeal to the court.
– We will appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision of the National Electoral Commission to reject the financial report of the PiS committee – he informed Mariusz Blaszczakhead of the PiS club and vice-president of the party. According to his announcements, this is to happen this week.
Mariusz BlaszczakTomasz Gzell/PAP/EPA
4. A huge financial injection for local governments
The government has adopted a draft law on the revenues of local government units. The draft budget for 2025 allocates an additional PLN 24.8 billion for this purpose.
Prime minister Donald Tusk announced that “over the next 10 years local governments will receive PLN 345 billion more.” Starting next year, local governments' revenues from PIT and CIT will be calculated as a percentage of the income of taxpayers of a given tax from the area of a given local government unit.
5. Maduro postpones Christmas for Venezuelans
Leader Venezuela Nicolas Maduroaccused of rigging the recent presidential election, announced a change to the official calendar. He said he would move the country's Christmas celebrations to October, media reported Tuesday.
This is not the first time that the Venezuelan dictator has changed the holiday calendar and brought Christmas forward. In recent years, it has become the norm, according to a list compiled by the Argentine daily La Nacion.
Main image source: Tomasz Gzell/PAP/EPA