““If (…) on the basis of such unreliable and sloppily prepared information such an important decision as depriving a political party of the resources necessary for its normal functioning in a democracy would be taken, it means that Tusk’s people have misunderstood the system,” MEP Patryk Jaki wrote on the X website. The politician of Sovereign Poland was responding to the National Electoral Commission in response to Minister Adam Bodnar’s allegations against this group.
The National Electoral Commission will decide tomorrow on the financial report of Law and Justice. The ruling coalition and the mainstream media not only hope to deprive the main opposition force of a significant share of the subsidy, but politicians from the Tusk government and the parliamentary majority are also trying to put pressure on the National Electoral Commission. The head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Jan Grabiec, rose to the height of cynicism, recently stating on TVN24 that if the National Electoral Commission does not punish PiS, we will have… Belarus in Poland. This extremely clumsy inversion of concepts, even for PO, would be funny, if it were not for the fact that in Belarus, precisely in Belarus, the authorities are fighting the opposition using such methods – with the help of state institutions.
What: An answer to Bodnar’s fairy tales
The acting chairman of Sovereign Poland, MEP Patryk Jaki, sent a letter to the National Electoral Commission exposing numerous errors and inaccuracies in the accusations made by Bodnar supporters against his party.
I sent a letter to the National Electoral Commission in response to the fairy tales of A. Bodnar. In his letter he pointed out that two ZP activists earned “political capital” with the campaign. However, they did not go to the Sejm at all. He then pointed out an event from FS that it had nothing to do with FS at all. That’s how they added it up. Just like suggest that the seat of the volunteer fire brigade is the constituency, while it is the municipality, which results from the law
– he noted in a post on the X platform.
So if on the basis of such unreliable and sloppily prepared information such an important decision as depriving a political party of the resources necessary for its normal functioning in a democracy would be taken, it means that Tusk’s people made a mistake about the political system.
– he added, posting a scan of the letter.
Letter from Member of the European Parliament Jaki
Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar has sent letters to the National Electoral Office about a film commercial on the amendment of the Criminal Code (media information will be available from August 8, 2024) and about the spending of money from the Justice Fund (letter dated August 22, 2024). He presented a subjective and politically charged interpretation
– points out Patryk Jaki in a letter addressed to the members of the National Electoral Commission.
The accusations of Minister Adam Bodnar are unfounded, unrelated to the facts and serve only to combat the opposition. The video in question is purely informative. In no case was there any electoral fraud within the meaning of Article 105 of the Electoral Act, nor was it part of the referendum campaign. This material did not encourage people to vote for a specific candidate, did not contain any designation of the electoral office, information about the electoral list and place on the list, election slogans, logos of parties or electoral commissions. He also did not encourage participation in the national referendum, nor did he call for a specific answer to the questions posed in the referendum. And only these specific elements constitute agitation according to the aforementioned normative act. If, of course, we still live in a country where legal legislation, and not political interpretations, is decisive.
– points to the former Deputy Minister of Justice.
“‘Antidemocratic, ridiculing Poland as a state’
The MEP emphasises that information about the activities of state bodies, offices and institutions subordinate to them by persons exercising public functions is a standard manifestation of public life in Poland.
Adopting an interpretation prohibiting such activities would be anti-democratic, but would also ridicule Poland as a state. During election campaigns, it would deprive citizens of the full opportunity to learn about the activities of persons exercising public functions. It would also constitute a de facto restriction of the right to stand for election. The previous case law of the Supreme Court was shaped in a similar vein (see, for example, the judgment of the Supreme Court of 30 July 2020, reference 1 NSW 84/20).
– emphasizes Jaka.
It is worth emphasizing that the Minister of Justice has a legal opinion that confirms the above position. It was ordered before the broadcast of the spot about changes to the Criminal Code. Previous leadership of the ministry. Justice has exercised due care in observing the restrictions on the conduct of information activities that resulted from the opinion
– he adds.
The MEP points out that the said opinion “explicitly provided for the possibility of conducting an information campaign on changes to the Criminal Code”, furthermore that it also defined the conditions for such a campaign and that the material discussed “undoubtedly” meets them.
Media campaigns about projects carried out by persons performing public functions have been carried out frequently in the past. This did not meet with any negative reaction from the authorities competent to assess such activities in terms of compliance with the rules for conducting and financing an election campaign by election commissions. Mention can be made of the 2011 Civic Platform campaign entitled “Poland under construction” (carried out even before the registration of the election commission). or the distribution, before the 2024 local elections, of a film promoting the construction of a pedestrian bridge in Warsaw (financed by the City Hall), in which the candidate for the office of Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski, who is also the incumbent president, is presented.
– says Patryk Jaki.
Financial plans of the Justice Fund
Taking into account the above, there is no doubt that the information film presenting the main changes in criminal law did not contain elements that could be considered a violation of the electoral rules. However, if a different interpretation were to be adopted, it would have to be recognized that what a party can do during the campaign (for example, the information campaigns of R. Trzaskowski) is prohibited for its competitors.
– says Jaki.
The MEP devotes a large part of the letter to the financial plans of the Justice Fund in the context of the financing of the Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Such changes were made each time in the second half of the year, also because the status of the inflow into the Fund could then be assessed in more detail (the resources were transferred to the Fund every ten days) and the status of the expenditure in the Fund. related to the implementation of other programmes and projects. Therefore, adjustments (increases) in the financial plan of the Fund were often made in previous years. Such an increase, despite greater revenues than those resulting from the financial plan, did not occur in 2023, undermining the proposition of a special focus on spending funds in the election year.. It should also be noted that the purchase and transfer of equipment was carried out and organized by municipalities (it was repeatedly emphasized that the vast majority of municipal authorities receiving funding were non-partisan or had ties to PSL), which decided on the nature of this event and the people who participated in it.
– we read on.
The politician points out that “local MPs or councillors from different parties” have repeatedly participated in such events, while the Bodnar activists have transferred the published subsidies for the Volunteer Fire Brigade by region in such a way that they fit the statement. According to Patryk Jaki, this is a “substantial and logical error”.
The seat of the volunteer fire brigade is the municipality and not, as they suggest, the entire district. Moreover, the municipality is the applicant. And when this obvious formal fact is taken into account, the division with the FS looks like this: 72 percent. – Impartial 12 percent -PSL, 9% -PiS, 5% -PO 0.33% -SP. So we don’t really know who, as Adam Bodnar notes, should provide it with “political capital”. Probably PiS competitors?
– asks the MEP.
““Unreliable, sloppily prepared information”
As an aside, it should be noted that one of the two events mentioned in Adam Bodnar’s letter, in which the then Deputy Minister of Justice, Marcin Romanowski, participated, was not related to the transfer of equipment from the Justice Fund (Transfer of Rescue Operations). In addition, it is worth noting that in recent years there have been many more such events with the participation of Deputy Minister Romanowski, which also undermines the claim that they were used for firefighting purposes during the election campaign.
– we read on.
Moreover, Adam Bodnar points to two SP activists who were supposed to hand out checks to run their campaigns. In the meantime, they did not run for the Sejm at all. There are more such – let’s call it subtle – carelessness. Assuming that such an important decision would be taken on the basis of such unreliable and sloppily prepared information, such as depriving a political party of the resources necessary for the normal functioning of a democracy, I ask you once again to investigate these reasons.
– summarises the MEP.
Ajax
Source: wPolityce