“The most important question” that Andrzej Domański asked the National Electoral Commission about the resolution on money for PiS

December 30 National Electoral Commission adopted the financial report of the PiS committeethus implementing the decision of the unrecognized Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court. The adopted resolution states that it is “immanently and directly related to the judgment, which must come from a body that is a court within the meaning of the constitution and the Electoral Code.” “The National Electoral Commission does not determine that the IKNiSP Supreme Court is a court and does not determine the effectiveness of the judgment,” reads paragraph 2 of the resolution.

On Wednesday, the Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański announced in a statement that asked the National Electoral Commission to interpret the resolutioni.e. clarification of doubts regarding its content.

On Wednesday evening, Domański was a guest of “Fakty po Faktach”.

– We are dealing with an absolutely unprecedented resolution that is internally contradictory, in which paragraph 2 de facto contradicts paragraph 1, with a resolution that is full of ambiguities. And this is not just my opinion. This is the opinion of a number of the greatest legal authorities, constitutionalists, administrative law experts, former members of the National Electoral Commission, and, perhaps most interestingly, current members of the National Electoral Commission, de facto co-authors of this resolution, he said.

– As the Minister of Finance, I have not so much the right, but the indisputable obligation to clarify all doubts, all ambiguities – and in the case of this resolution we are dealing almost exclusively with such doubts – before I take further actions – he added.

The head of the Ministry of Finance said that he had asked the National Electoral Commission “several questions”. – I think this is the most important thing, so I asked for confirmation whether this famous paragraph 2 of the Electoral Commission's resolution means that the resolution can only be implemented if the electoral committee's complaint has been previously considered by the Supreme Courtconstituted in a manner consistent with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union – he noted.

Domański was asked whether he was impressed by the comments of PiS politicians, who often threatened him with criminal liability.

– I am not afraid of PiS. Here I must fulfill my constitutional duties. Responsibilities that I undertook to fulfill when taking up the position of Minister of Finance. And no threats, no blackmail from PiS make an impression on me and will not prevent me from fulfilling my constitutional duties – he said.

The minister also referred to the notification to the prosecutor's office submitted by PiS.

– It must be said very clearly that the times when PiS terrorized the state and terrorized officials are over and will not come back. The fact that PiS is reporting me to the prosecutor's office – okay. I am the Minister of Finance, a member of the government, a politician, an MP, I know who is on the other side – he said.

– However, what is absolutely unacceptable and which I do not consent to is an attempt to intimidate rank-and-file officials of the Ministry of Finance. People who are absolutely apolitical, who do their work in the best faith, and PiS is also accusing them against them – said Domański. – Any attacks on apolitical officials will be met with my strong opposition – he said.

– Of course, I consulted lawyers at the Ministry of Finance. They were the ones who recommended that I turn to the National Electoral Commission for an interpretation. Of course, I also talked about this matter with Prime Minister Tusk, he said.

When asked if it was after he made the decision, Domański replied: – Also after we discussed the whole situation.

– It is extremely important for me that there is no pressure here – he said, noting that there is no pressure from the Prime Minister either – I think I have full support – he added.

When asked if he had a free hand in this matter, he replied “absolutely yes”. – This is a decision that must be made on the basis of, of course, a very clear resolution of the National Electoral Commission. Here, these doubts regarding the NEC's resolution are, as I said, common. So I am absolutely convinced that the State Electoral Commission should provide such an interpretation as quickly as possible, without undue delay – he added.

National Election Commission at the end of August rejected the financial report of the PiS election committee from the 2023 parliamentary elections.

The reasons for the initial rejection of the PiS committee report by the National Electoral Commission included: PiS election campaigning during military picnics, an advertising spot of the Ministry of Justice and the election campaign conducted by employees of the Government Legislation Center. The cases then considered by the National Electoral Commission to be indisputably violating the rules of conducting an election campaign, after recalculation, amounted to PLN 3.6 million.

READ MORE: Millions for military picnics. “These were PiS rallies financed by public money”

PiS appealed against the National Electoral Commission's decision to the Supreme Court. On December 11, the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court – questioned by part of the legal community and European tribunals – accepted the complaint of Jarosław Kaczyński's party.

READ MORE: “We lost, I lost.” Kalisz: I told the National Electoral Commission that no one would understand it