Former Polish PM Morawiecki faces prison over alleged abuse of power
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is facing serious charges and potential prison time, after Polish prosecutors charged him over his involvement in attempting to organise presidential elections by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current deputy leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party has denied that this was done in bad faith and is accusing the current government of bringing him to court for political reasons.
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the PiS-led government tried to organise presidential elections by post, claiming that they were acting out of the public interest and protecting voters' safety.
The idea proved to be divisive among Polish politicians, as the opposition claimed this would benefit the then-incumbent Andrzej Duda. The elections were delayed for a month and were eventually held in person, with voting taking place at polling stations.
Duda still won the elections by a close margin.
Four years later, Morawiecki is facing abuse of power and dereliction of duty charges, which could lead to three years in prison if found guilty.
'If I had to make the decision again on preparing to organise elections at that time, I would do exactly the same,' Morawiecki, who waived his immunity, said in response to the case.
'I acted for Poland. I still do that to this day'. He called the decision to call elections by mail 'difficult but necessary and responsible', stating that 'the duty of the authorities is to take care of order and the efficient functioning of the state'.
Act of political vengeance?
Since coming to power, the ruling coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has brought several cases to court against former government ministers and high-ranking officials.
On 31 January, the Polish police brought former PiS Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro to parliament, after a court ruling held that he should be detained to testify regarding an investigation that his party used Pegasus spyware on opponents while they were in power.
According to PiS, this is all political revenge being exacted on their party by the ruling coalition. In turn, ruling party politicians argued that their actions were justified under the law.
'(Morawiecki) didn't have the right to do it,' Dariusz Joński, an MEP from the Civic Coalition, argued in a video statement published on X. 'He broke the law. Elections in Poland are dictated by the National Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Office.'
'They simply wanted to steal the elections,' he added.
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