Poland’s PiS picks the pockets of its MPs to make up for cash shortfall

WARSAW — There’s a political platitude that people getting into politics do so to serve and not to make money. In the case of Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, that’s actually the truth.

That’s because the party, which governed Poland from 2015 to last year, is in financial turmoil after an election watchdog rejected PiS’s election campaign report in August following allegations of improper campaign spending.

The party lost millions of złoty in government cash, and now is turning to its elected officials and rank-and-file supporters to keep the money flowing in. Mariusz Błaszczak, the party’s deputy leader, said that every member of the European Parliament will have to kick in 5,000 złoty (€1,170) a month (about a tenth of their monthly salary), while Polish MPs and senators are expected to send 1,000 złoty (also about a tenth of their earnings).

Politicians are falling into line.

Anna Gembicka, a PiS MP, told POLITICO that she has already paid her first 1,000 złoty, and that she’s going to do the same “every month.”

Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a newly elected MEP and a former deputy foreign minister, told POLITICO that he’s also donated — although he wouldn’t say how much — and will continue to do so to foil Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s plan to “destroy the opposition in Poland.”

Money is also coming in from ordinary supporters.

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said last week that some 50,000 people have donated so far.

“We have now raised at least 6 million złoty. There’s been an enormous mobilization on the side of our supporters and that’s a good sign ahead of the presidential campaign,” Gembicka said.

PiS needs all the financial help it can get.

Last month’s National Electoral Commission (PKW) ruling cost the party at least 50 million złoty in state subsidies. The commission is due to issue a second ruling this fall, which could cost PiS all the subsidies it is meant to get in the current four-year electoral term — amounting to millions more.

The party needs that money to run a credible campaign next year for president, when pro-PiS incumbent Andrzej Duda ends his second and final term. The party is desperate to hang on to the presidency to prevent Tusk from holding all major power centers — just like PiS did between 2015 and 2023.

“We just need to be able to function effectively as the only political force that can counter [Tusk’s] ‘militant democracy,’” Gembicka said, referring to a recent statement by the prime minister, who said he might take some shortcuts when it comes to restoring the rule of law in Poland.

Tusk, along with some international bodies, accused PiS of backsliding on democratic rules, politicizing the courts and using government cash as a political slush fund. The European Commission has unblocked money frozen over rule of law concerns when PiS was in power, but the new government is finding it hugely difficult to roll back changes made by its predecessors.

However, PiS accuses Tusk of running roughshod over democratic rules — the same accusation that was made against PiS when it was in government.

The party is using the electoral commission verdict to ramp up support among its core electorate.

“With three-quarters of the media supporting the government, we need money for a successful counter-narrative. It’s either we splinter this monolith or Tusk will consolidate his power,” said Mularczyk.

In an attempt to overturn the PKW decision, PiS appealed to the Supreme Court last week. 

However, that appeal was lodged with a Supreme Court chamber stacked with PiS loyalists, but one whose legitimacy has been questioned. That makes it likely, in the event the chamber decides supports PiS, that the finance ministry could ignore the ruling and not release money to PiS.

That will give PiS more ammunition to fire broadsides at the incumbent coalition, Mularczyk said.

“I just cannot imagine the situation in which the government won’t respect a ruling by the Supreme Court,” he said.

“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.