The National Electoral Commission adopted the financial report of the PiS committee. The chairman of the committee, Sylwester Marciniak, comments

Sylwester Marciniak announced on Monday that “the National Electoral Commission, implementing the decision of the Supreme Court, “adopted the financial report of the PiS committee from the 2023 parliamentary elections”. He said that four out of nine members of the National Electoral Commission voted for the adoption of such a resolution, three were against and two abstained.

In mid-December, the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court, whose activities are questioned by, among others, European tribunals, accepted PiS's complaint about the rejection of the report by the National Electoral Commission.

READ MORE ON KONKRET24: The National Electoral Commission accepts the PiS report. What's next? “The minister will pay or not”

On the same day, Marciniak was a guest of “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24. He was asked why a different decision was made today, since the commission took place on December 16 postponed the decision on this matter until “the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Poland systematically regulate the legal status of the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court and the judges participating in the adjudication of this chamber.”

– We did not make a different decision. On December 16, we only adopted the decision to postpone (the decision – ed.), (…), we did not change the decision, because de facto (then – ed.) we only made the decision to postpone – the judge replied.

He also stated that the decision taken on December 16 “was not a resolution at all, because in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Code, the National Electoral Commission adopts resolutions on matters arising from the Act.” He pointed out that “no provision of the Electoral Code regulates the issue of postponing or suspending” the decision.

The Chairman of the National Electoral Commission also stated that in this situation one cannot talk about a “resumption” of the resolution. He pointed out that reassessment occurs when a resolution with the same content is voted on. – Please note that on December 16, a position was taken, a conclusion that is not fully reflected in the Electoral Code, that we are postponing the decision for some time – he continued.

Marciniak said in the program that “there are no winners and losers in this resolution.” He was also asked whether there was political pressure in this matter. – I do not think that any pressure from any side of the political dispute influenced the decision of the members of the National Electoral Commission – he replied.

He assured that there was no pressure on him personally in this matter. – Sylwester Marciniak, when it comes to the National Electoral Commission, serves the voters and Poland – he said about himself.

The head of the committee referred to the sentence from this resolution, which says that “the National Electoral Commission does not determine that the IKNiSP SN (Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court – ed.) is a court and does not determine the effectiveness of the judgment.”

– We do not decide whether this chamber, this bench is competent (to adjudicate – ed.) in this type of cases – Marciniak continued. – We don't decide. The second paragraph (of the resolutions of the National Electoral Commission – ed.) clearly states that we do not make decisions because we are not authorized to do so. We are not a court or a tribunal to determine whether a given judge is a judge or a given chamber is a chamber. There are completely separate proceedings from this, most often court proceedings, he added.

The head of the National Electoral Commission also commented on the opinion of the former head of the National Electoral Commission Professor Andrzej Zoll, who said that he saw “complete inconsistency” in the decision of the National Electoral Commission.

– I think that everyone (everyone – editor) understands the content of this resolution in their own way. Full respect for Professor Zoll, the first chairman of the National Electoral Commission, but until 1993, so (it was – ed.) a completely different era – he replied.

When asked whether Monday's decision of the National Electoral Commission calmed down the situation when it comes to deciding on the validity of the next elections, he replied: – I hope that it calmed down the atmosphere.

The TVN24 guest was also asked whether, after Monday's decision, an appropriate letter had already been sent to the Minister of Finance, because it is he who formally makes the decision regarding the payment of money to political parties.

– Yes, he prepared a team for financing election campaigns and political parties (National Electoral Office – ed.). The result is that the letter, which was sent on August 30 (when the National Electoral Commission originally rejected the PiS report, before the Supreme Court's decision – ed.), does not produce legal effects in terms of the adoption of this resolution – he replied.

Marciniak also talked about the fact that the National Electoral Commission obliged him, as the chairman of the committee, to organize a meeting with the first president of the Supreme Court Małgorzata Manowska in order to conduct a discussion on the panels adjudicating on electoral matters.

Asked whether the National Electoral Commission wanted to obtain an assurance that neo-judges would not consider electoral complaints, he replied that “this may be too far-reaching.” – The main conclusion was that we should meet and talk about the panels adjudicating on these cases – he added.