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More Poles think the rule of law in Poland has got worse than better in the year since Donald Tusk’s coalition government took power from the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, a new survey has found. The poll, carried out by SW Research on behalf of Rzeczpospolita, a leading newspaper, asked Poles: “How has your opinion on the state of the rule of law in Poland changed after a year of Donald Tusk’s government being in power?” -The most common answer, given by 34.8% of respondents, was that “the situation has got worse”. That was followed by 28.2% who said that it has not changed. Only 24.4% of people said that the situation has improved, while 12.6% said they did not have an opinion. Men (38.5%) were more likely to think the situation has got worse than women (31.6%). The lowest earners (45%) were also more likely to think so than the highest ones (26.5%).

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PiS called it an attempt by the government to "eliminate the opposition" and "introduce an autocratic system".

Poland’s National Electoral Commission (PKW) has rejected the annual financial report of Law and Justice (PiS), the country’s main opposition party, due to campaign spending irregularities. The decision could cost the party tens of millions of zloty in lost state subsidies. However, the outcome of the case is shrouded in legal controversy stemming from the contested judicial reforms made by PiS itself when it was in power from 2015 to 2023. PiS figures have condemned the decision – which was made by the majority of PKW members appointed by the ruling coalition – as an attempt by the government to “eliminate the opposition” and “introduce an autocratic system”. Under Polish law, political parties that win at least 3% of the vote in parliamentary elections – or coalitions that achieve at least 6% – receive state subsidies to help fund their activities. They must also submit annual reports on their finances for assessment by the PKW, as well as reports on spending in election campaigns. If the PKW finds irregularities in those reports, it can cut a party’s subsidies. In August, a majority of five on the nine-person PKW voted to reject PiS’s financial report on last year’s parliamentary election campaign after it identified over 3 million zloty (€695,550) of irregular spending by the party. Today’s decision to reject PiS’s annual financial report for the entirety of 2023 “was based on the same premise” as the rejection of its campaign financing report in August, said PKW spokesman Marcin Chmielnicki today, quoted by broadcaster RMF. It was also supported by a majority of five members.

#poland #polish pol #polish nation election committee #pis #election campaign #funding irregularities #illegal supreme court

An investigation found the country's former conservative government had pressured its consulates in Asia and Africa to issue Polish visas in

An investigation found the country's former conservative government had pressured its consulates in Asia and Africa to issue Polish visas in exchange for cash, including to Russian nationals. Poland announced it would tighten its visa regulations following a probe by state auditors who found that under the previous government, the country's consulates in Asia and Africa took thousands of euros in exchange for work visas. The new rules will also apply to students looking to obtain study visas in Poland, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in a speech on Thursday. Sikorski said that the right-wing Law and Justice or PiS party government, which developed the cash-for-visa scheme, lost control over the system from 2018 to 2023. “We can confirm that, unfortunately, in a scandalous way, unlawful pressure was exercised over Polish consuls with the intention of increasing the number of visas issued to people ... who should not necessarily obtain them, including the citizens of the Russian Federation,” Sikorski said. The results of the investigation found 46 irregularities under the former government in five different areas, including a lack of transparency and poor supervision under Zbigniew Rau, the country's former minister for foreign affairs. The allegations that the strongly anti-migration party had sold thousands of temporary work visas hit the PiS party in the run-up to last year's election, which they eventually lost to PM Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party.

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PiS, the opposition party, says around 40,000 people have donated so far.

Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party says it has raised around 3 million zloty (€700,000) from 40,000 people within days of launching an appeal for donations after the electoral commission stripped the party of tens of millions in state funding due to campaign spending violations. Some commentators and politicians from the ruling coalition have expressed doubt as to whether the manner in which PiS is now raising funds is legal. However, the justice minister today confirmed that, in his view, the opposition party is complying with the law on political donations. On Thursday last week, the National Electoral Commission (PKW) voted to reject PiS’s financial report for its campaign in last year’s parliamentary elections. It found that the party, which was then in power, had used state money and institutions to support its campaign, in violation of the electoral code. As a result, the PKW reduced by 10 million zloty PiS’s state subsidy to cover campaign costs. It also cancelled the party’s annual state subsidy for the next three years, which would have amounted to tens of millions of zloty in total. PiS can still appeal against the decision.

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An amended Polish resolution on the use of conscience clauses on abortion has come into force, requiring hospitals to have a doctor on site

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An amended Polish resolution on the use of conscience clauses on abortion has come into force, requiring hospitals to have a doctor on site able to perform an abortion in certain circumstances – a significant change in a country with one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. Hospitals will now have to ensure that at least one of their doctors is able and willing to carry out abortions in the cases permitted by law, such as when the life or health of the mother is in danger or when the pregnancy is the result of rape. The change is aimed at cracking down on cases of doctors abusing the conscience clause, resulting in women being unable to terminate a pregnancy even when it is legal. “Due to the abuse of the so-called conscience clause by some medics, women are often unable to exercise their right to a legal termination of pregnancy,” it was said in the amendment’s justification. Failure to provide abortions will now result in a penalty for the hospital, including possible termination of its contract with the National Health Fund (NFZ), which means a reduction in state reimbursement for medical procedures and treatment.

#poland #polish pol #abortion rights #conscience clause

As many as 578 people, including opposition politicians and possibly prominent figures from the then-ruling camp were being monitored via th

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As many as 578 people, including opposition politicians and possibly prominent figures from the then-ruling camp were being monitored via the Pegasus spyware under the previous conservative government’s rule, Polish Justice Minister and Attorney General Adam Bodnar said on Tuesday. The Prosecutor General’s report, submitted to parliament and published on the Senate’s website, covers the period from 2017 to 2022 when the conservative PiS (ECR) government was in power. Previous unconfirmed information by Citizen Lab and other sources pointed to the hackings of prominent opposition figures and then-prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and possibly President Andrzej Duda. According to the new report, three special service public bodies used spyware against six people in 2017, 100 in 2018, 140 in 2019, 161 in 2020, 162 in 2021, and nine in 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, information began to emerge about the use of Pegasus against then-opposition politicians and figures associated with it, but also against people who were not directly involved in politics at the time, such as Michał Kołodziejczak, the leader of the AgroUnia farmers’ movement, now the deputy minister of agriculture.

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Polish far-right leaders are launching their European election campaign by setting up parties that want Poland to leave the European Union,

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Polish far-right leaders are launching their European election campaign by setting up parties that want Poland to leave the European Union, one of which was founded by former MEP Stanisław Żółtek. The first politician to call for Poland’s exit from the EU was Żółtek, a former presidential candidate who is now running for MEP. “We are under the thumb of the European Commission, which is governed by the Germans and the French. They are losing their national sovereignty (to the EU) just like us, but at least under their own leadership, he said, as quoted by Rzeczpospolita. The Polish people have realised the consequences of EU membership, according to Żółtek, who points to rising electricity bills due to the cost of CO2 emissions, EU restrictions affecting the competitiveness of Polish agriculture and the push for electric vehicles in the near future. As many as three election committees with the word “Polexit” in their names have registered for the elections, Rzeczpospolita reported, citing the list on the National Electoral Commission’s (PKW) website.

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Conservative opposition PiS party leads in Sunday’s local elections in Poland, according to exit polls, but Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civ

Conservative opposition PiS party leads in Sunday’s local elections in Poland, according to exit polls, but Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition took most of the big cities in the first test of public support after the hotly contested national elections last October. Contrary to what most pre-election polls suggested, the right-wing PiS party (ECR) came out on top with 33.7%, which, if confirmed, will see them ‘win’ the elections, according to the exit poll by the Ipsos pollster. The Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/S&D/Greens), Tusk’s party, ranked second with 31.9%. “Our ninth win should encourage us to work even harder,” PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński commented on the results, referring to the fact that they also won the October parliamentary elections, although it later failed to gain a majority in the parliament and lost power in the country to the Tusk-led coalition. He added the next task was to “win the EU election and presidential election before we try to win the next general election.”

PiS just has to bide its time. Tusk's coalition is bound to fall apart at some point; it's the nature of coalitions, and in Tusk's case it's made up of both left and right wing parties whose only common goal was to replace PiS in power.

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