Poland’s electoral commission on Thursday announced cuts to the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, ruling that the party misused public money to finance its campaign for parliamentary elections in October.
The PiS ruled for eight years before losing power to the current pro-European coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The party is still the largest party in parliament.
The National Electoral Commission (PKW) on Thursday decided to “reject the report of the Law and Justice Election Committee on income, expenditure and financial obligations,” chairman Sylwester Marciniak told reporters.
He added that the subsidy for PiS would be reduced by “10 million zloty ($2.5 million)” compared to the amount the party had received for the campaign before the last election.
The party also risks losing subsidies set aside for the period leading up to the next parliamentary elections unless it successfully appeals the ruling.
According to Polish media, PiS could lose a total of around 57 million zloty in state subsidies over the next three years.
The irregularities found by the electoral body in the campaign included the holding of events financed by state institutions “where election campaigns undoubtedly took place,” said PKW member Ryszard Balicki.
Balicki also mentioned hiring employees at one of the government offices who “only campaigned for the then head” of the institution.
After the PKW decision, Tusk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “PiS is learning the true meaning of the words law and justice”.
His alliance vowed to hold PiS accountable for the alleged misuse of state funds to boost last year’s election campaign.
– ‘Belarusian system’ –
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, from the PiS party, called the decision “disgraceful” and vowed to take legal action against the ruling.
“It’s about next year’s presidential elections. The current government wants to weaken us because it fears defeat,” Morawiecki said on X.
PiS parliamentary group leader Mariusz Blaszczak said the party would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
“Tusk is introducing a Belarusian system, a regime that does not respect the rights of the opposition,” he told reporters.
Under Polish law, the PKW sets limits on each party’s election spending and refunds this money after examining the expenditure reports.
Parties that reach the three percent threshold of the vote in parliamentary elections receive an annual state subsidy, which is also monitored by the PKW.
According to the PKW, a constitutional body responsible for overseeing the entire electoral process in Poland, the PiS has overstepped the established limits by using public money from the coffers of various state institutions for the purposes of the last election campaign.
In the past, the Electoral Commission has deprived several parties of money due to financial irregularities.
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