Following its last meeting, the State Election Commission (PCP) announced a decision on the payment of subsidies to Law and Justice. The key provision concerns the preparation of explanations for Finance Minister Andrzej Domański, in consequence to his letter concerning the resolution of 30 December.
Explanations Without explanation Resolution
PKW members agreed that a answer to the Minister of Finance's letter was necessary. However, they stressed that this would not be done in the explanation of the resolution, as this procedure is not provided for in the Electoral Code. The explanations are so to take the form of separate papers prepared by 2 members of the Commission: Ryszard Balicki and Arkadiusz Pikulik. They were both obliged to submit ready-made papers by January 23.
Controversy during the Meeting
Journalist Marek Mikołajczyk described the scenes of the Thursday PKW meeting. He stressed that they were full discussions on the Commission's remit. "Ryszard Kalisz wanted to require the president of PKW Sylwester Marciniak to send the Minister of Finance a letter of a predetermined content. This content was intended to propose that the December resolution of the PCC had no legal effect. In this case, there was a debate on the explanation of Article 158(6) of the Electoral Code, which states that "the president of the PCC shall carry out the activities commissioned by the Commission" - said Mikołajczyk.
Maciej Kliś, who argued that this provision should be interpreted in a rational way, spoke in the decisive dispute. "If not, we could oblige the president of PKW to "jump for beer to the close Żabka" - concluded Kliś in a humorous tone.
Letter from the Minister of Finance to PKW
Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski in his letter addressed to PKW argued that the work to explain doubts about the decisions of public authority derives from fundamental legal principles. On his profile on X, he wrote: "Today I have sent a letter to the PKW, in which I have indicated the provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Code and another laws that show that the work to explain doubts about the settlements of public authority is an apparent part of our legal order and the activities of public administration, including PKW".
In his letter, Domański referred to the rule of trust in the State and legal certainty (Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland), the reliability and efficiency of public authorities (preamble of the Constitution), the principles of legalism (Article 7 of the Constitution), and the cooperation of administrative authorities in the implementation of public tasks. He besides indicated the provisions of the Electoral Code and the Act on Political Parties.
Controversial Resolution of December 30
In his letter, Domanski pointed out that the factual basis of his proposal was due to a ‘obvious interior contradiction including § 1 and § 2 of the Resolution’. As he argues, the consequence of this contradiction is an nonsubjective inability to execute it.
What's next?
A decision by the PKW to prepare explanations for the Minister of Finance may be of crucial importance for resolving the dispute over the subsidy to Law and Justice. These explanations may aid to find what further steps will be needed in this regard. All indications are that the issue of subsidies will stay at the forefront of the political agenda in the coming weeks.
Will the explanations of PKW satisfy the head of the finance department and aid resolve legal doubts? To answer this question we will gotta wait for the publication of papers prepared by Balicki and Piculik.
Read more:
"Kalisz wanted to commit Marciniak". PKW prepares a consequence to Domanski on the PiS subsidy
