PiS campaign spending and the National Electoral Commission's doubts. Roman Giertych: we will bring evidence

The fate of the PiS electoral committee's financial report for the 2023 parliamentary elections is at stake. At the end of July National Electoral Commission made no decision on this report and adjourned the meeting until Thursday, August 29. The Commission is determining whether the party used public funds to finance its campaign, which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Code.

On Wednesday, the PiS settlement team, led by the KO MP, met Roman Giertych. Its members analyzed a picnic that was organized a week before the parliamentary elections in the town of Czarnków in the Trzcianka commune in Greater Poland.

The vice-chairman of the team, Piotr Głowski (KO), said that he invited, among others, to the event called the Great Family Feast PiS MP Krzysztof Czarnecki. A concert was held there, films praising Czarnecki were shown, sausages were distributed, and “the word PiS and Czarnecki's name were repeated many times”.

Głowski said he was at the event and, in his opinion, it was obvious that it was part of the election campaign. At the beginning, he said, several short films were shown showing the actions of Czarnecki and the MP. – The event itself, including the concert, we estimate cost around PLN 100,000 – he said. According to him, the cost of producing these films should be added to this, for example.

MP Maria Janyska (KO) indicated that the organizer and payer of the Great Family Feast was the Association of Creative People “Pokrzywa” from the Trzcianka commune, where the PiS politician comes from and lives. – The president of the association is Bartosz Sokulski, who (…) is a good friend of MP Czarnecki – she added.

Organizing the picnic – according to documents obtained by MPs – was supposed to cost almost PLN 60,000. – This amount does not include the cost of Zenek Martyniuk's concert, there is no cost of free sausages, there is no fee for renting the facility – Janyska stated.

In addition, according to the team's findings, just before the event, the Creative People Association “Pokrzywa” received donations from 19 forest districts that are subordinate to the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Piła. Each forest district was to donate exactly PLN 11,000, or a total of PLN 209,000.

In addition, the Village Foundation in Trzcianka and the Society of Friends of the Village of Rychlik were to receive PLN 105,000 in donations each. Then – according to the KO MP – these organizations were to transfer PLN 80,000 each to “Pokrzywa”. – So, to the PLN 209,000 donation that was transferred directly to the account of this association by the forest districts, we should add another PLN 160,000. That is PLN 369,000 – she added. She said that this case was reported to the prosecutor's office by the person who performed the audit.

Janyska also said that “this association organized family picnics for him (Czarnecki – ed.) in other towns as well”. – This association also received a subsidy of PLN 100,000 from the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy last year, also in August, I think – said the MP.

According to calculations presented by the team members, the organization of the event could have cost 400 thousand zlotys. Roman Giertych pointed out that “the State Electoral Commission, through the mouth of attorney Ryszard Kalisz, said that it was looking for the amount of 400 thousand zlotys spent illegally on the election campaign”. – We have this amount in only one county – he said.

He stressed that even if the association financed the election campaign from its own funds, it would also be a violation of the Electoral Code. – And in addition, we have evidence that this money came from the state budget – he added.

– We have found an amount of 400 thousand, which in only one case, in one district, of one MP, was invested by us taxpayers in the PiS election campaign. If anyone needed clear evidence, they have it – he announced.

– I am convinced that such situations all over Poland, where such concerts were held, de facto election films were released, election commercials, that we had as many such situations in Poland as there were electoral districts, as many as there were candidates for MPs, as many as there were MPs – said Giertych. – A situation in which the campaign is run by the state budget instead of the party is a basis for rejecting the financial report – added the MP.

– In a moment we will go to the National Electoral Commission, we will present this evidence. I think that in connection with everything that the Chancellery of the Prime Minister presented, what the ministers actually presented, there is no doubt what the decision of the National Electoral Commission should be in this matter – assessed the head of the team.

The team also reported on another matter concerning another campaign – a local government one. Głowski was supposedly contacted by a whistleblower regarding the Self-Government Agreement billboards in the Piła district, which were purchased as part of the local government election campaign.

– PiS has co-governed in the Piła district, i.e. in the neighbouring district, for the last eight years with their annex: the Local Government Agreement – said the MP.

According to the whistleblower – the MP reported – the promotional materials were to be produced on a plotter purchased with local government funds. – The starost has already filed a notice to the prosecutor's office. (…) The investigation has been launched and I hope that it will clarify all these threads – Głowski added.