“Tusk is doing what he can to make sure the opposition won’t ever win power back. Because he knows he will have to face justice for the unlawful takeover of public media, the prosecution, or for a series of proceedings targeting opposition MPs,” Mularczyk added.
Political decisions
In 2018, PiS changed the rules under which members of the electoral commission were selected by giving parliament a decisive say on the body’s make-up. That has now come back to haunt the party after the new post-election majority voted in people of their choice.
The PKW had plenty of scope to take a close look at how PiS and its allies financed last year’s campaign, with accusations the party was using government funds for political purposes, taking cash from state companies, and using government-financed events to promote politicians.
“The decision by the PKW … stands on solid ground, though one could argue whether it fits the legal framework 100 percent,” said Jakub Jaraczewski, a researcher at Democracy Reporting International, an NGO. However, he added that Polish campaign finance law is “overly formalistic” and “this is a signal that Polish campaign finance laws need a reform while the PKW itself needs restructuring so that it stops being a politicized body.”
For now, PiS is trying to make the best of the situation. On Saturday it held a rally denouncing the new government, accusing it of violating democratic rules and selling out Poland to foreigners.
“This is the pacification of a country that is about to be stripped of its independence,” Kaczyński said, adding that current government “wants to pursue the interests of another state, Germany.”
But the money worries are having an impact. An event called Harbor Poland, which was supposed to be a response to the recent lavish Camp Poland event organized by Tusk’s Civic Coalition party last month, was called off.