The National Electoral Commission Rejects the 2022 Report by a Party Linked to Michał Kołodziejczak
The National Electoral Commission has dismissed the financial report of a party founded by Michał Kołodziejczak, which the commission argued might have drawn funds from illegal sources. The takeaway came as Rzeczpospolita reported on Thursday that the party had not supplied answers to several key questions raised by the commission.
This lack of clarity fuels the suspicion that the party funded its assets from unauthorized origins during the reporting period, according to the commission’s resolution on law-abiding conduct adopted earlier this week.
Specifically, the commission rejected the party’s 2022 financial report. Law and Order Poland, as the party is known today, is a political group associated with Michał Kołodziejczak, who previously served as a deputy minister of agriculture with Agrounia. The party originally carried the Agrounia name. It entered the party register in March 2022 and underwent a name change to Poland Rule of Law in June 2023. Subsequently, Kołodziejczak was replaced as president by his cousin Piotr Kołodziejczak, according to the report in the media.
As the ongoing coverage describes, the Agrounia community also spawned three other parties: Ruch Społeczny Agrounia TAK, Stable Poland, and Społeczny Interes. None of these groups ended up contesting the elections, as Kołodziejczak and a cohort of activists were placed on the Citizens Coalition list. The resolution today casts serious doubt on the operations of the first of these offshoots.
Historically, the National Electoral Commission has often rejected reports from smaller parties for minor admissible errors. However, a parliamentary amendment last year introduced a margin for permissible errors in financial matters. A rejection of a party’s report can be viewed as a drastic option, though for parties that do not receive state subsidies, such as Law and Order Poland, the consequence is usually not severe in financial or legal terms, as noted in coverage by the press at the time.
These developments have prompted questions: Does Kołodziejczak’s party have something to hide? One focal point is whether the party presented a complete bank account history. The party filed a statement covering December 6 to December 31, 2022, even though it had been registered in March of that year. The commission’s assessment notes that Polska Rule of Law did not attach all required documents to the report, including the account agreement, making it impossible to determine whether the history shown reflects the entire term of the account. Additionally, the commission found that the party failed to explain its 2022 activities clearly, effectively preventing an accurate determination of actual income and all receipts and payments logged in the party’s bank records.
Further inquiries from the commission sought details about the party’s use of a building in Sieradz and whether costs were incurred for meetings or printing. The letter sent to the party’s registered address requesting acknowledgment of receipt was returned marked as not received on time. The report notes that there was no response to a formal email, although the party’s attorney reportedly acknowledged receipt of the questions in a phone discussion.
Based on these factors, the commission concluded that the party may have obtained money and property from sources outside legal channels, potentially including foreign contributions, and that such assets were accumulated outside a formal bank account. The commission also highlighted that the party had not published mandatory registers of contracts and payments online, a lapse deemed noteworthy by the committee.
These observations and conclusions were compiled by the desk at Rzeczpospolita, which described the commission’s position in its coverage. The ongoing reporting notes that authorities have not confirmed any direct links to illegal funding, but the commission’s stance clearly raises significant questions about governance, transparency, and compliance for this coalition-linked group. The situation remains dynamic, with observers watching for any forthcoming clarifications or disclosures from the party involved.
— Reports the press coverage cited in this article.
Sources referenced in the coverage include parliamentary watchers and mainstream outlets, with internal reports and formal statements attributed to the National Electoral Commission. The reporting environment continues to emphasize issues of transparency, accountability, and the rigorous application of financial rules to political entities.