Poland slashes subsidies for right-wing Law and Justice party

Poland's electoral commission on Thursday announced cuts to the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party's subsidies after ruling it misused public funds to finance its campaign before the parliamentary election in October.

The PiS governed for eight years before losing power to the current pro-European Union coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk but remains the single biggest party in the parliament.

The National Electoral Commission (PKW) on Thursday ruled to "reject the Law and Justice party's electoral committee's report on its income, expenditure and financial commitments", its head Sylwester Marciniak told reporters.

He added the subsidy for the PiS would be "reduced by 10 million zloty ($2.5 million)" from the sum granted to the party for campaigning before the last election.

The party also risks losing the subsidies earmarked for the period until the next parliamentary ballot unless it successfully appeals the ruling.

According to Polish media, the PiS could in total lose around 57 million zloty from state subsidies over the next three years.

The irregularities in the campaign found by the electoral body included holding events funded by state institutions "where election campaigning unquestionably took place", PKW member Ryszard Balicki said.

Balicki also mentioned hiring employees in one of the government offices who "only served to campaign for the then head" of the institution.

Following the PKW decision, Tusk took to X, formerly Twitter, saying "the PiS learns the true meaning of the words law and justice".

His alliance pledged to hold the PiS to account over its alleged misspending of state funds on boosting its election campaign last year.

- 'Belarusian system' -

Former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who hails from the PiS, called the decision "shameful", vowing to take legal action against the ruling.

"It is about next year's presidential elections. The current government wants to weaken us because it fears defeat," Morawiecki said on X.

The PiS parliamentary leader Mariusz Blaszczak said the party would protest the decision with the Supreme Court.

"Tusk is introducing a Belarusian system, a regime which does not respect the rights of the opposition," he told reporters.

Under Polish law, the PKW imposes election spending limits for each party, and reimburses this money after examining the expenditure reports.

Each year, parties that exceed the three-percent vote threshold in parliamentary elections receive a state subsidy, also controlled by the PKW.

According to the PKW, a constitutional body responsible for monitoring the entire electoral process in Poland, the PiS exceeded the limits imposed by using public money from the coffers of several public institutions for the purposes of the last election campaign.

In the past, the electoral commission has deprived several parties of money for financial irregularities.

mmp/imm