In fresh days, the Polish political scene is one more time faced with an intense debate on the financing of electoral campaigns and the function of the State Election Commission (PKW) and the ultimate Court (SN) in assessing the regularity of political parties' accounts. The central point of this debate is the PKW decision of 29 August 2023, which rejected the financial statements of the Election Committee of Law and Justice (PiS) from the 2023 parliamentary elections.
PKW questioned the expenditure of PiS at the amount of PLN 3.6 million, resulting in a simplification of the organization grant by 3 times this amount, i.e. by PLN 10.8 million. In addition, the lot may be deprived of all subsidies for another 3 years. In consequence to this decision, PiS leaders decided to mention the complaint to the ultimate Court, accusing PKW of politically motivated action.
PiS Arguments and PKW Response
During the press conference, the head of the PiS club, Mariusz Błaszczak, announced a complaint to the SN, stressing that "all arguments state that the financial statements of the PiS were prepared according to the rules, according to the law in force in Poland." As evidence of the compliance of the report, he cited the opinion of an independent auditor and of the National Election Office.
Błaszczak besides noted that in the PKW, 5 members who voted against the PiS study came from the coalition nomination on 13 December, which in his opinion indicates political motivation. According to Błaszczak, the decision of the PCW violates the law and is an example of unequal treatment of election committees.
Will the complaint be examined by an illegal Chamber subordinate to the Law and Justice
The complaint will be dealt with by the illegal Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs, a body whose position is contested by global tribunals, including the Court of Justice of the European Union (TEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Despite this, the decisions of this Chamber stay binding in the Polish legal order, which creates controversy both at home and abroad.
In accordance with Article 101 of the Polish Constitution, it is the ultimate Court that approves the validity of parliamentary elections in Poland. The PiS argues that questioning the position of this home by the opposition is inconsistent, as decisions of the ultimate Court were previously recognised, e.g. on the validity of the 2020 presidential election.
Complaint to SN and possible scenarios
According to the law, the electoral committee's financial typical is 14 days from the notification of the PKW decision to file a complaint with the SN. The illegal Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs has 60 days to deal with the complaint and issue a ruling. If the SN considers the complaint to be justified, the PKW will gotta accept the party's financial statements.
However, there is no appeal against the ruling of the ultimate Court, which means that the decision will be final. If the SN upholds the PKW decision, the PiS will gotta face serious financial consequences, including the failure of a crucial proportion of the organization subsidy. Where an illegal Chamber takes account of the complaint, its decision shall not be enforceable as it does not have the power to give decisions.
Conclusion
The case of the PiS complaint to the ultimate Court on the PKW decision opens a fresh chapter in political disputes around the financing of electoral campaigns and the independency of electoral authorities in Poland. The decision of the SN, regardless of its content, will have crucial consequences for both the Law and the Polish political strategy as a whole. It is hard to foretell what the final effects of this decision will be, but 1 thing is certain: this issue will be widely commented on and analysed both in the country and internationally.
Continued here:
PiS appealed to SN the PKW decision to collect part of the subsidy
