PiS lost some money. NEC member on what will happen after the decision of the contested Supreme Court chamber

At the end of August The National Electoral Commission rejected the financial report of the PiS committee from the 2023 parliamentary elections. The National Electoral Commission (PKW) alleged irregularities in the financing of the campaign by PiS in the amount of PLN 3.6 million. In connection with this, the entity subsidy for this party (almost PLN 38 million) was reduced by three times the amount in question, i.e. by approximately PLN 10.8 million. In addition, the almost PLN 26 million annual subsidy was reduced by PLN 10.8 million. PiS must also return the disputed amount, i.e. PLN 3.6 million, to the State Treasury.

READ: The National Electoral Commission rejected the PiS campaign report. How much will the party lose?

READ ALSO: What did the National Electoral Commission consider an illegal campaign? List of activities for which the PiS committee report was rejected

Head of the Law and Justice club Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Friday that on that day the party will appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision of the National Electoral Commission. It will be reviewed by the Supreme Court's Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs. It has 60 days to issue a ruling in this case. There is no appeal against the Supreme Court's ruling. If the Supreme Court finds the complaint justified, the National Electoral Commission is obliged to pass a resolution to accept the report. However, if it does not accept the complaint, the decision of the National Electoral Commission becomes final.

The problem is that the European courts – Court of Justice of the European UnionWhat European Court of Human Rights – denied the Supreme Court's Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs the status of an independent and impartial court. The status of the Chamber is also questioned by the government. The Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar He stressed that all the rulings and the entire activity of the Supreme Court's Extraordinary Control Chamber are flawed. He noted that this fact and the attitude of some judges of this chamber will have to be taken into account by the Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański.

One of the National Electoral Commission members admitted in an unofficial conversation that if the Supreme Court's Extraordinary Control Chamber accepts PiS's complaint, the Commission will have a problem.

– We have the judgments of the Courts in Luxembourg and Strasbourg, this is a certain problem and it will not be easy to make a decision. I could advise all interested parties that they should do everything to have this case decided by a panel that is not questioned. Everyone should be interested in having it resolved in a way that does not raise any doubts – said the interlocutor of the Polish Press Agency.

In response to the fact that the same Chamber issued resolutions on the validity of elections to the Sejm and Senate, and recently – to the European Parliament – a member of the National Electoral Commission assessed that in these cases “it is assumed by default that the elections were valid”. – From a formal point of view, if we do not recognize the rulings issued by this Chamber, then it should be assumed that in this case Supreme Court did not speak out, which does not change the fact that the mandates are filled and the parliament can make decisions. The problem arises in the event of a negative decision – he noted.

The NEC member admitted that he himself agrees with the assessment of the European tribunals regarding the status of the Extraordinary Control Chamber, and in the case of decisions being made within the NEC, he “will behave in accordance with his way of understanding and respecting the law”. He also admitted that “playing for time” by the NEC “is some kind of solution”.

He made it clear that the final decision and responsibility will rest with the finance minister, who orders the disbursement of funds. – Even if the National Electoral Commission accepts the PiS report, no one knows whether the finance minister will then disburse these funds – he added.

This is not the end of PiS's financial problems. The party Jaroslaw Kaczynski there is a risk of rejection of the financial report for 2023 and, as a consequence, loss of the entire subsidy for the next three years, i.e. a total of over PLN 77 million.

The National Electoral Commission will most likely consider the parties’ reports for the past year in early October, although a date for a meeting on the matter has not yet been set.

According to one of the members of the National Electoral Commission, the provisions of the Act on Political Parties are inexorable and give no other choice but to reject the annual report. – Article 38a clearly indicates the grounds for rejection, and financing bypassing the Electoral Fund is such a ground – he emphasized.