Poland’s former prime minister is facing legal troubles relating to his decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mateusz Morawiecki, a member of the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), is accused of exceeding his authority by attempting to conduct the 2020 presidential election exclusively through mail-in voting despite an alleged lack of legal foundation.
Initially set for May 2020, this election was postponed and conducted in person several weeks later, with PiS ally Andrzej Duda winning. The aborted postal vote process reportedly cost taxpayers at least $17.5 million. On Thursday, Morawiecki attended the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw. He has defended his actions by arguing that his efforts in 2020 aimed to ensure a timely presidential election amidst the pandemic, citing global uncertainty and numerous fatalities.
The former prime minister insisted that his prosecution is politically motivated on the part of successor Donald Tusk’s globalist government. Tusk and his government have gone after several conservative politicians and media executives since coming to power in 2023, including having police storm Poland’s presidential palace to arrest politicians last year, despite the fact they had been issued pardons for their supposed crimes.
The Polish state has also gone after critics of Tusk, arresting a 52-year-old man who compared the prime minister to Adolf Hitler, for instance.