POLAND – Criminal charges were filed by the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office against former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and 2 of his cabinet ministers.

The move opens the way for parliament to consider sending them before the State Tribunal, the country’s special court for constitutional offences.

In a statement, Poland’s justice minister and prosecutor general, Waldemar Zurek, said the Sejm had already lifted the immunity of Morawiecki, former Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, allowing prosecutors to bring charges related to alleged abuses of office.

The move against Morawiecki, Blaszczak and Ardanowski is part of a broader effort by the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and prosecutors to revisit controversial decisions taken under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) party government – a so-called “reckoning” – particularly around the pandemic-era postal election, the politicization of the judiciary and abuses in state-owned companies.

The Sejm may now decide whether the same acts also constitute constitutional violations serious enough to justify impeachment before the State Tribunal.

The District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw charged Morawiecki with exceeding his authority and failing to fulfil his duties in connection with the aborted plan to hold Poland’s 2020 presidential election entirely by post during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors argue that two administrative decisions signed by Morawiecki in April 2020 unlawfully instructed the state postal operator, Poczta Polska, and the Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW), a state-owned enterprise specializing in producing secure documents like ID cards, passports and driver cards, to prepare a nationwide mail-in vote before the legal framework for such an election had been adopted.

The postal election then never took place. Political disputes within the then-ruling PiS camp and opposition resistance forced a return to in-person voting in June 2020.

However, Poczta Polska and PWPW incurred tens of millions of zlotys in costs printing ballot papers and preparing logistics. Prosecutors say the companies suffered losses of about 53 million zloty ($14.5 million) and 3.5 million zloty ($963,166), respectively.

Morawiecki, who appeared before prosecutors this February, has pleaded not guilty, refused to give explanations and publicly defended his decisions as necessary to ensure the election could go ahead under pandemic conditions.

Blaszczak is accused of exceeding his authority by declassifying and publicizing fragments of the Plan for the Use of the Polish Armed Forces (WARTA-00101), a confidential document governing Poland’s response to a potential Russian attack.

In July 2023, Blaszczak ordered parts of the plan declassified amid a political row over previous versions of the document, which PiS used to accuse the earlier Civic Platform (PO) government of being willing to “give up half the country” in the event of an invasion.

Prosecutors allege that by making elements of WARTA-00101 public, Błaszczak breached rules on the protection of classified information and potentially endangered national security.

In the case of Ardanowski, who headed the agriculture ministry from 2018 to 2020, investigators allege that he exceeded his powers and failed to carry out his duties.

Proceedings can be initiated by a motion of at least 115 deputies. To bring a case, three-fifths of the Sejm must vote in favor, with at least half of all MPs present. Conviction can result in removal from office, disqualification from public functions for up to 10 years, and where applicable, criminal penalties.

Supporters of the proceedings argue that they are a necessary step toward restoring the rule of law after eight years of PiS rule and that senior officials must answer for costly or unlawful decisions made while in office.

Critics within PiS denounce the investigations as “political revenge” designed to sideline opposition leaders ahead of future elections.