President Andrzej Duda has invited the signatories of an appeal to veto the amendment to Electoral Code changing European election rules - the spokesperson for the President, Krzysztof Łapiński informed on Thursday.
Last Friday, members of Kukiz'15, Polish People's Party, Razem Party and Right Wing of the Republic, on the initiative of the Jagiellonian Club wrote a letter to Andrzej Duda in which they appeal to him to veto the amendment to the Electoral Code that changes the rules of European elections.
"There are many differences between civic and political communities that we represent. However, we are united in conviction that radical increase of electoral threshold, limiting the actual choice for Polish people to only two lists, as well as curbing access to political scene are all detrimental to Polish democracy. We hope that you will consider our arguments and decide not to sign the amendment to Electoral Code into law," reads the letter to the President.
President Andrzej Duda has invited, for Monday to the Presidential Palace, the signatories of an appeal to veto the amendment to Electoral Code changing European election rules - the spokesperson for the President, Krzysztof Łapiński informed on Thursday.
According to the opinion of the Senate Legislative Office, the constituency division proposed in the amendment "will make Poland the only EU state where the effective threshold will exceed threefold the EU's 5-percent".
"In Poland, the effective threshold will equal 16,5 percent. This will be the minimum nationwide vote a committee will have to get in order to win seats," the Senate legislators indicate.
Poland's president will likely veto changes proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) designed to benefit big political parties in 2019 elections to the European Parliament, he said in remarks published on Thursday.
In July the Polish parliament approved an altered election rule that favours big parties like PiS and the biggest opposition group Civic Platform (PO) and disadvantages smaller groups or individuals.
"I do not see a need of such a fundamental limitation of access to the European Parliament. In practice this eliminates smaller parties. I question this from the democratic point of view," Dziennik Gazeta Prawna quoted Andrzej Duda as saying in an interview.
"I am strongly inclined to block this proposal."
Mr Duda is a PiS ally but his potential veto would mark another twist in his relations with the ruling party, which have been volatile since the president unexpectedly vetoed controversial bills intended to reform the court system a year ago.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 International, PAP, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24