When elections are not postponed but canceled: political turmoil continues in Poland

Twilight zone: This is what many commentators called the situation in Poland last week. After all, although the election did not take place on Sunday, it was not officially canceled until May 10.

After all, the ruling right-wing coalition, which did not want to postpone the vote even because of the new coronavirus pandemic, failed to agree on a legitimate constitutional solution, and the opposition failed.

Chaos that could have been avoided?

Both opposing political fields pursued different but related goals, 15min Wilczewski said. The ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) desperately wanted a vote, let alone the mail: Andrzej Duda’s ratings are now very high, so he did not want to miss out.

Meanwhile, the opposition has just asked for the vote to be postponed, both because only Duda was free to campaign and because support for Duda is likely to decline when the economic effects of the pandemic are felt.

The ruling majority in the Seimas had already passed a vote-by-mail resolution, but then the opposition delayed its opposition to the legislation in the Senate for a full 30 days.

And when he returned to Seimas, he was finally approved, but it’s too late to hold a full vote.

Finally, the rulers announced on Wednesday that the election would be declared void after the fact. And on Sunday night, the Electoral Commission instructed President Elzbieta Witek to set a new date for the presidential elections within 14 days.

The vote will have to take place within 60 days of this E. White report. Its president, Silwester Marciniak, is already talking about a possible advance that will allow for fully democratic, transparent and fair elections.

Marcin Matczak: “In a democracy, two people, even politicians, cannot simply cancel an election when they meet. It’s written in the Constitution, and that’s the point. “

But can it really be said that the crisis has diminished and that democracy will win? Legal professionals cannot believe how elections are handled in general.

“It just came to our attention then. First of all, we are in an unconstitutional situation: the elections were ‘canceled’ on Wednesday night, when two politicians met for absolutely informal talks at PiS headquarters.

In a democracy, two people, even politicians, cannot simply cancel an election when they meet. This is written in the Constitution, and the point. I would be very surprised if the Supreme Court confirms such a cancellation of the elections, “said Marcin Matczak, a law professor at the University of Warsaw.

Legal void

According to the plan of PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the smallest coalition partner, the leader of the “Porozumienie” party Jaroslaw Gowin, who met on Wednesday, the Polish Supreme Council must declare that the May 10 vote failed.

But does that mean that the elections, albeit with zero participation, took place? Matczak asks: “Why should the court make a decision when it has not been voted? How can you evaluate the elections that have not taken place?

This law professor, it is true, in his comments, probably just wants to show that all this disaster was not necessary: ​​it would have been enough to declare a state of emergency and postpone the elections in an orderly manner.

Matczak believes that the Supreme Council will simply not go into procedural niceties and declare that there have been no elections, and this will confirm: “In other words, the elections will not be postponed, but will be canceled; a whole new process will take place.

The candidates will be nominated and the lists selected. The procedure is theoretically the same as if the president had resigned and had to hold a new vote. “

D. Wilczewski: “At the moment we do not know what the court will decide. We do not know because it is still unclear what happened legally yesterday (Sunday, ed.). The Constitution did not foresee such a situation, therefore, we are in a legal vacuum. “

The Electoral Commission has indeed announced such a process. But Wilczewski believes that the Polish Supreme Court can still shuffle the cards back to the rulers, who, by the way, according to many independent experts and the assessment of the EU Court of Justice, are violating community law in the judicial reform process .

“The main problem is that we learn something different every day. No one knows what to expect in the next few days. Yes, a new election date should be announced within 14 days, but in fact there is still room for a Supreme Court ruling.

And at the moment we don’t know what the court will decide. We do not know because it is still unclear what happened legally yesterday (Sunday, ed.). The Constitution did not foresee such a situation, therefore, we are in a legal vacuum “, – speaking with 15min discussed by D. Wilczewski.

The choice will be new.

As already mentioned, the law on postal voting has already been adopted and signed by the President. Therefore, it is entirely possible that the new elections, likely to take place before the end of the coronavirus crisis, will be held by mail, only safely.

“But here again the opposition will be able to protest and ask why a state of emergency has not been declared, why there has not been enough time to prepare.” Therefore, there are also uncertainties in this place, “said D. Wilczewski.

By the way, the elections will be completely new in the summer, but the government wants to facilitate the process for candidates who have already collected the required signatures, so that they do not have to collect new signatures.

“It just came to our attention then. Signatures were collected for a specific date, May 10. Since the electoral calendar is new, everything has to be new.

Clearly, there are arguments that we cannot strictly follow the procedures due to such times. However, this is detrimental to the state. What if someone wants to unsubscribe?

The government wants to facilitate the process for candidates who have already collected the required signatures, so that they do not have to collect new signatures.

What if someone intends to participate? After all, it is possible. How do you collect signatures in such a short time and during a pandemic?

Laws are a fairly precise machine. Someone has failed in their duty, declared a state of emergency and is now pushing for an election. These are pathological attempts to plug holes in a sinking ship. And we will all drown “, M. Matczak is convinced.

Until recently, some Porozumienie MPs opposed voting by mail, who threatened to vote against legislation paving the way for such elections.

And although in the end the entire faction of this party supported this law, Wilczewski affirms that the tensions between the rulers are obvious.

The popularity of Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, a candidate for the Citizens Platform Party, which is the largest opposition force, has especially declined.

“There are a lot of emotions and tensions. Any new crisis can lead to a new critical situation: the coalition partners do not trust each other. Gowin does not believe in Kaczynski. The problem has now subsided, but it may come back in a few days or weeks. ” 15min said the journalist.

And Duda now just waits, and fairly calmly, according to polls, the ratings of the president, who will seek reelection, remain at 40%. The limit is not weak. Unlike some of its rivals.

According to D. Wilczewski, the popularity of Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, a candidate for the Citizens’ Platform Party, which is the largest opposition force, has fallen particularly hard: voters have been caught up in some of their mistakes during the campaign.

“Initially, it was backed by perhaps 20%. Voters, but now it is 3-4%. And anyway, other candidates are not scolded with Duda, but among themselves,” said the interlocutor.