From Poland With Love - September
In our Poland Newsletter guest contributor Dr. Milosz Hodun is giving us monthly updates about current news, events and all other things you need to know about Poland.
Topic of the month
The Minister’s Rooms-Per-Hours As it was mentioned in the previous edition of the Newsletter, Marian Banaś was the minister of finance only for couple of weeks. He could not enjoy his promotion in the finance ministry for too long since Jarosław Kaczyński found him a new job, namely the one as chief of Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli; NIK). Who is this multitalented politician? Marian Banaś graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the Jagiellonian University (1979). He also under took religious studies and studied philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology. He was one of the founders and activists of the Action for Independence and the Institute of Katyń. In 1981-1983, Marian Banaś served a prison sentence for his activity in the Solidarity freedom movement (Solidarność). In 1992-2015 he occupied various positions at NIK. From 21 November 2005 to 2 January 2008 he served as the Undersecretary of the State in the Ministry of Finance, and since November 28, 2005 also as the Head of the Customs Service. On August 30th Marian Banaś, candidate of PiS, was elected with 245 votes (out of 460) as new chief of the NIK. His opponent, former minister of justice Borys Budka (PO) got 135 votes. Three weeks later Marian Banaś became the biggest problem of PiS in the 2019 campaign… Private station TVN24 reported that Banaś let a house he owns in Krakow to a shady business, namely it was adopted for rooms-per-hour. It was run by a local escort agency known for its brutality. Hidden camera footage showed a reporter making payment to use a room for one hour, but not being given a receipt — in violation of fiscal law. New chief of the Supreme Audit Office denied any connection, claiming that he is burdened by “insulations” rather than “charges”, labeling the report as “a great manipulation and provocation against me and the government.” When he started explaining his connection to the house in Krakow even more interesting facts were exposed. Banaś said the house was given to him by an old Home Army (WWII resistance) soldier. He renovated the house and wanted to sell it. Banaś agreed to rent the property for PLN 5.000 (ca. EUR 1.100) a month, some PLN 10.000 lower than its estimated market value, according to Gazeta Wyborcza. He has been reporting to tax authorities very low income from renting all his properties. What is more, the report by TVN24 stressed that in 2016 Banaś had declared to sell the tenement building, but it did not happen. The property became a collateral for loan of over PLN 2,6 million, granted by Bank Ochrony Środowiska, where Banaś' son had been working. The property was sold only a few weeks before the scandal was presented by the reporters. Poland’s central anti-corruption bureau (CBA) has been inspecting the 2015-2019 property reports and the audit is expected to be completed at the end of October. "The inquiry encompasses asset declarations submitted between 2015 and 2019. The planned date of the control's completion is second half of October," the CBA informed. It means that the results of the control would be known, most likely, after the parliamentary election scheduled for October 13th. "In line with the law on the CBA, inquires may take up to 9 months," the CBA explained. The ruling party knew about CBA’s doubts about Banaś’s money but decided to ignore it and elect him for one of the key positions in the state. Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro vowed consequences should any irregularities be found, while other ruling party members were protesting Banaś’s honesty. Opposition MPs called for his immediate dismissal. Banaś informed the Speaker of the Sejm that he is going on leave until the CBA investigation is over. On the day when his leave was supposed to begin he came to work and fired all three of his deputies, who served under the previous chief of the Office. He did that to be sure that the Office will be run during his leave by another PiS-loyalist. On September 26th the parliamentary committee of state control met on a special hearing and elected Małgorzata Motylow as deputy chief and the Office and it’s acting chief. Motylow is Banaś’s legal councilor and good friend of Marta Kaczyńska, Jarosław Kaczyński’s niece. According to the latest phone survey conducted by Kantar for TVN24 55% of Poles think Marian Banaś should resign as Chief of the Supreme Audit Office (34 percent answered "definitely yes" and 21 percent "rather yes"). The opposite opinion was expressed by 19 percent of respondents. There are rumors that after the elections Banaś will lose his job at NIK. The current minister of investment and development Jerzy Kwieciński was appointed the minister of finance, replacing Banaś at his previous job.Politics
Campaign Update National Electoral Commission (PKW) drew election list numbers. In total, nine committees which registered their candidates for the Sejm in more than one constituency took part in the draw. First, the numbers were drawn for the five committees which had registered their lists in all constituencies. Poland is divided into 41 constituencies of various size. The smallest one being in Częstochowa where there are 7 MP seats available, whereas Warsaw is the biggest one with 20 seats to win. The number are as follows:- Number 1 for Polish People's Party (PSL),
- Number 2 for Law and Justice (PiS),
- Number 3 for Democratic Left Alliance (SLD),
- Number 4 for Confederation, and
- Number 5 for Civic Coalition (KO).
- Immediately to bring to an end disciplinary proceedings brought against any judge based on the judge’s decision to request a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union or the judge’s delivering a judgment of which the government or its agencies disapprove;
- To review the new system of disciplinary proceedings to ensure they are independent of government and the Minister of Justice;
- To introduce procedures to amend the legislation on the National Council of Judiciary to ensure that its judicial members are elected by the judges and are not nominated by Parliament or the government; and
- Forthwith to undertake all necessary or appropriate steps to restore the independence of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.