The Electoral Code, in article 148, describes the consequences of the National Electoral Commission questioning the resolution of the electoral campaign.
“If the National Electoral Commission rejects the financial report (…), the subsidy (…) is reduced by an amount equivalent to three times the amount of funds obtained or spent in violation of the regulations.” In the following paragraph you will read that the same applies to the subsidy granted to the party.
In addition, the disputed amount will have to be returned. This amounts to almost PLN 25 million in total. Instead of PLN 38 million in campaign reimbursement, PiS will receive around PLN 28 million. This is the effect for now, but there is also a delay, because PiS could – according to the head of the National Electoral Commission – lose the subsidy for the next three years, i.e. more than PLN 75 million in total. However, this will only happen when the National Electoral Commission rejects the annual report on party financing. The parties submit this report every year and it does not concern election campaigns, but day-to-day party activities.
Firstly, PiS will appeal the decision of the National Electoral Commission to the Supreme Court, and this is where another problem arises. The chamber that is considering the party’s complaint is the Extraordinary Control Chamber, which is precisely the one whose functioning raises serious doubts for the current ruling coalition. The same chamber recognised the validity of the elections and the 15 October Coalition did not dispute this decision. There is therefore a certain dissonance between when the chamber is legal and when it is not.
In PiS they are “using resources”
It can be assumed that the Extraordinary Control Chamber will consider the resolution of the National Electoral Commission invalid and conclude that the entire PiS campaign was financed from legal and clear sources, and that it is up to the Minister of Finance to pay the subsidy. But the Minister and the entire Chamber government do not recognize this and therefore will probably not pay the subsidy. At the same time, decisions will be made regarding the annual settlement. Judging by the distribution of votes in the National Electoral Commission, the annual reports of PiS will also be rejected, and this will be really painful for Jarosław Kaczyński’s party. As we have heard, unofficial calculations show that he could lose even more than 100 million before the next election.
– We will have to beg – we hear PiS politicians, who at the same time say that we will have to “free up resources”, that is, simply ask for much greater involvement from voters, but above all from activists who have so far benefited from the resources and paid little from the party’s coffers. Our interlocutors mention MEPs first. However, there are also members of parliament and even local government employees who should contribute a certain percentage of their income to party activities.
In addition, the activities of the Red and White Association will be launched much faster, and it will also raise funds. Will PiS collapse after such a blow to its pocket? NO. It will raise some money, probably save some money and save some money on campaigns. Will it be difficult? Of course, because, for example, no bank will lend money to the party for the upcoming election clashes.
The reactions to the National Electoral Commission’s decision are predictable. On the one hand, the joy of politicians from the coalition parties, on the other, the indignation of politicians from PiS.
The National Electoral Commission can investigate, but it does not have investigative powers, so it can only read documents relating to the campaign itself, that is, from August to October last year. For example, there were no more than 800 picnics here. In fact, the CNE’s decision was influenced by the actions of Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro (a ministry-funded spot broadcast during the election silence), two picnics organized by the Ministry of National Defense and the actions of the head of the Government Legislation Center, current PiS MP Krzysztof Szczucki. That was enough.
