NIK: possible offences committed by PM Morawiecki, his aide and two ministers

In mid-May, the NIK chief Marian Banaś presented the results of an inquiry into preparations for the 2020 presidential election that was supposed to have been carried out through postal voting due to the pandemic. The ballot that was supposed to take place on May 10 did not happen in the end.

The right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government made preparations for a postal ballot, arguing that it could be held safely despite a rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Election monitors, opposition candidates and EU officials criticised the plan, saying the decision to change the electoral code allowing for the mail vote was rushed and could prevent the vote from being free and fair.

The plan to hold the election on May 10 eventually collapsed and the ballot was held in a traditional way, in two rounds, in June and July, resulting in a second term for the PiS-backed incumbent, Andrzej Duda.

Among other things, Banaś pointed out that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's decision regarding printing out of voting cards had "lacked legal grounds".

At the time, the Supreme Audit Office had notified the prosecutor's office about two counts of possible misconduct - by the board of the Polish Post and the directors of the Polish Security Printing Works. Furthermore, at that point no notification had been issued regarding the prime minister's decisions.

At a conference on Tuesday, Marian Banaś said: "Today, taking into account the gravity of the irregularities detected by the inquiry, the NIK notifies the prosecutor's office about a misconduct committed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, PM's office chief Michał Dworczyk, State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin and Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński".

The audit office said Morawiecki and a senior aide had overstepped their powers by trying to organise the election, saying this was the sole competence of the National Election Commission.

However, it was unclear whether prosecutors would launch such an investigation. The prosecutors' office in Warsaw was not immediately available for comment, while Morawiecki shrugged off the move, saying the government had acted constitutionally.

In response, Morawiecki told a news conference: "Holding the presidential election is a constitutional duty, the election dates are defined in the constitution. This is why we, as the executive power, were obliged to organise the election."

Separately, state-run news agency PAP quoted a government spokesman as saying that all decisions to start technical preparations for the postal vote were legal.