Latest news with #LawandJustice
DW
4 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Were there irregularities in Poland's presidential election? – DW – 06/24/2025
Thousands of complaints have been lodged over alleged voting irregularities in Poland's presidential election on June 1, challenging the victory of right-wing conservative Karol Nawrocki. Will there be a recount? Ever since Karol Nawrocki was declared the winner of Poland's presidential election three weeks ago, the country's right-wing conservatives have been brimming over with confidence. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, is mobilizing his supporters, readying them for a tough battle with the pro-European, center-left government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Kaczynski aims to work with President Nawrocki to bring down Tusk's government and return to power at the latest after the next parliamentary election in 2027. But news that Poland's Supreme Court has been flooded with complaints about the election is casting a pall over the opposition's jubilation. Malgorzata Manowska, the first president of the Supreme Court of Poland, says that over 50,000 complaints have been received. And it is said that there are still sacks full of protests yet to be registered. Those filing complaints claim that there were irregularities in the count to the detriment of Nawrocki's pro-European opponent, Rafal Trzaskowski. Speaking at the first public PiS event since the election, Kaczynski on Sunday accused the governing coalition of seeking to call into question the result of the election. "We will not tolerate such fraud; we will not allow the election to be stolen from us," he told supporters. Nawrocki narrowly won the second round of the presidential election on June 1, getting roughly 51% of the vote to Trzaskowski's 49%. Addressing the prime minister, the president-elect said that "the future president will not allow Poland to be robbed of its democracy and the freedom to elect its president." Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, called on Tusk to "abstain from hysterical reactions and stop destroying Polish democracy." He is due to be inaugurated on August 6. Tusk initially responded with great restraint to reports of electoral irregularities. Immediately after the runoff election, reports appeared on social media, saying that Nawrocki was often surprisingly ahead in constituencies where Trzaskowski had clearly been in front in the first round. Because Tusk and other leading members of his party, Civic Platform (PO), said nothing about the allegations, PO lawmaker Roman Giertych seized the initiative. He uploaded to the Internet a form he said anyone who wanted to lodge a complaint could simply fill out. "It was electoral fraud," declared the lawyer, who is one of PiS's fiercest critics. To compromise Giertych, the right-wing television channel Republika has for days been broadcasting recordings of private telephone calls made by the politician. It is likely that they were recorded using Pegasus spy technology. Tusk has since cast his restraint aside, clashing with the outgoing president, Andrzej Duda, during a meeting of the National Security Council last week. Duda comes from the same political camp as President-elect Nawrocki. The two also clashed on X. "Are you not just curious, as people, about the real election outcome? Of course you are. And as we know, honest people have nothing to fear," posted Tusk, addressing Duda, Kaczynski and Nawrocki directly. "Mr. Tusk and his colleagues cannot accept defeat," retorted Duda. "I am not curious about the election result because I know the result. The State Electoral Commission announced it long ago," he posted, emphasizing that Nawrocki had won by a margin of just under 370,000. The Supreme Court says it has registered about 10,000 of the over 50,000 written complaints submitted. In the case of 13 commissions, a recount was ordered, with errors discovered in 11 constituencies. In most cases, votes for Trzaskowski were counted for Nawrocki or the names of the candidates were mixed up in the official record. In one case, the public prosecutor has launched proceedings. "We are not challenging the election result. We just want to clear up any problem cases," emphasized government spokesman Adam Szlapka. Many members of the ruling coalition, including Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, are of the opinion that the scale of the irregularities is not enough to call into question Nawrocki's victory. "No leader of the coalition parties has called for a recount of all votes," said Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, chairman of the New Left, on Tuesday after a coalition meeting. The Supreme Court has until July 2 to investigate the complaints. The judges must give their verdict on the validity of the poll within 30 days of the election. Two sittings of the Supreme Court are due to be held this Friday. Wojciech Hermelinski, a former head of the electoral commission, doubts that this will be enough in view of the number of complaints involved. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court's decision will end the dispute because the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs (the Supreme Court chamber that decides on the validity of the election) was created by PiS and is not viewed as independent or impartial by either the European Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights. "The Polish judiciary is complete chaos," says Malgorzata Manowska. "I am not claiming that the presidential election was rigged," wrote Bartosz Wielinski in the Polish daily newspaper . "However, there are so many question marks in the debate about the result that a recount of all votes cast in the election runoff is becoming Poland's reason of state." Political scientist Antoni Dudek has cautioned the government against pushing the "myth of rigged elections." This myth would be extremely dangerous for the stability of the Polish state and could lead to violence or even a civil war, Dudek told the television channel Polsat on Monday. Meanwhile, Szymon Holownia, speaker of the Polish parliament, sought to pour oil on troubled waters. "If the Supreme Court declares the election valid, I will call the National Assembly on August 6 so that Karol Nawrocki can take the oath of office," Holownia said on Tuesday.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
Parl panel asks why no FIR lodged over cash found at Justice Varma's house
Several MPs at a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday asked why no FIR has been lodged over the recovery of unaccounted cash from a high court judge's residence here and told the Department of Justice to prepare a detailed note on the matter, sources said. The MPs also demanded a code of conduct for judges, and justices in the higher judiciary should not take up government assignments till a period of five years post-retirement, they said. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, MPs of various parties raised the issue and posed several questions to the Ministry of Law and Justice on what it was doing in the matters raised concerning the judiciary. Sources said the secretary in the Department of Justice, who made a presentation on 'Judicial processes and their reform' concerning issues of Code of Conduct for the judges of higher judiciary and taking up post-retirement assignments by judges", was asked to prepare a comprehensive report on the issues raised and told to present it at the next panel meeting. They add that the members also sought a comprehensive bill addressing various issues and concerns on ethics and code of conduct of judges which were raised by them during the meeting. The MPs sought to know why no action had been taken on the matter concerning the recovery of unaccounted cash from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma and demanded a code of conduct should be in place. Some MPs also asked why no motion to remove Justice Varma has been moved so far. Sources said some demanded that justice should be equitable since a government employee may lose his/her job over a small corruption issue but no action has been initiated against a senior member of the judiciary even after the recovery of unaccounted cash. MPs of several parties also demanded that the government should have brought a motion by now to remove the judge concerned, especially after a Supreme Court-appointed committee of judges found the recovery of cash to be true. After the cash recovery, Justice Varma was repatriated to his parent court -- the Allahabad High Court. He has denied the charges against him. The MPs also deliberated upon post-retirement assignments of judges and said they should not get such appointments till a period of five years after their retirement. Some MPs also said that former judges should not be appointed as MPs or to any other assignments by the President of India immediately post-retirement. The committee of the Rajya Sabha is headed by BJP MP Brij Lal and has former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is a nominated MP, former minister of state for law P P Chaudhary, TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Kalyan Banerjee, Congress's Vivek Tankha, and DMK's P Wilson and A Raja as its key members. Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi did not attend Tuesday's meeting.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Parliamentary panel asks why no FIR lodged in recovery of unaccounted cash at Justice Varma's house
Several MPs at a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday asked why no FIR has been lodged over the recovery of unaccounted cash from a high court judge's residence here and told the Department of Justice to prepare a detailed note on the matter, sources said. The MPs also demanded a code of conduct for judges , and justices in the higher judiciary should not take up government assignments till a period of five years post-retirement, they said. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, MPs of various parties raised the issue and posed several questions to the Ministry of Law and Justice on what it was doing in the matters raised concerning the judiciary. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Sources said the secretary in the Department of Justice, who made a presentation on 'Judicial processes and their reform' concerning issues of Code of Conduct for the judges of higher judiciary and taking up post-retirement assignments by judges", was asked to prepare a comprehensive report on the issues raised and told to present it at the next panel meeting. They add that the members also sought a comprehensive bill addressing various issues and concerns on ethics and code of conduct of judges which were raised by them during the meeting. Live Events The MPs sought to know why no action had been taken on the matter concerning the recovery of unaccounted cash from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma and demanded a code of conduct should be in place. Some MPs also asked why no motion to remove Justice Varma has been moved so far. Sources said some demanded that justice should be equitable since a government employee may lose his/her job over a small corruption issue but no action has been initiated against a senior member of the judiciary even after the recovery of unaccounted cash. MPs of several parties also demanded that the government should have brought a motion by now to remove the judge concerned, especially after a Supreme Court-appointed committee of judges found the recovery of cash to be true. After the cash recovery, Justice Varma was repatriated to his parent court -- the Allahabad High Court. He has denied the charges against him. The MPs also deliberated upon post-retirement assignments of judges and said they should not get such appointments till a period of five years after their retirement. Some MPs also said that former judges should not be appointed as MPs or to any other assignments by the President of India immediately post-retirement. The committee of the Rajya Sabha is headed by BJP MP Brij Lal and has former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is a nominated MP, former minister of state for law P P Chaudhary, TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Kalyan Banerjee, Congress's Vivek Tankha, and DMK's P Wilson and A Raja as its key members. Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi did not attend Tuesday's meeting.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Unaccounted cash row: Parliamentary panel asks why no FIR against Justice Varma
Several MPs at a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday (June 24, 2025) asked why no FIR has been lodged over the recovery of unaccounted cash from a high court judge's residence here and told the Department of Justice to prepare a detailed note on the matter, sources said. The MPs also demanded a code of conduct for judges, and justices in the higher judiciary should not take up government assignments till a period of five years post-retirement, they said. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, MPs of various parties raised the issue and posed several questions to the Ministry of Law and Justice on what it was doing in the matters raised concerning the judiciary. Sources said the secretary in the Department of Justice, who made a presentation on 'Judicial processes and their reform' concerning issues of Code of Conduct for the judges of higher judiciary and taking up post-retirement assignments by judges", was asked to prepare a comprehensive report on the issues raised and told to present it at the next panel meeting. They add that the members also sought a comprehensive bill addressing various issues and concerns on ethics and code of conduct of judges which were raised by them during the meeting. The MPs sought to know why no action had been taken on the matter concerning the recovery of unaccounted cash from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma and demanded a code of conduct should be in place. Some MPs also asked why no motion to remove Justice Varma has been moved so far. Sources said some demanded that justice should be equitable since a government employee may lose his/her job over a small corruption issue but no action has been initiated against a senior member of the judiciary even after the recovery of unaccounted cash. MPs of several parties also demanded that the government should have brought a motion by now to remove the judge concerned, especially after a Supreme Court-appointed committee of judges found the recovery of cash to be true. After the cash recovery, Justice Varma was repatriated to his parent court — the Allahabad High Court. He has denied the charges against him. The MPs also deliberated upon post-retirement assignments of judges and said they should not get such appointments till a period of five years after their retirement. Some MPs also said that former judges should not be appointed as MPs or to any other assignments by the President of India immediately post-retirement. The committee of the Rajya Sabha is headed by BJP MP Brij Lal and has former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who is a nominated MP, former Minister of State for Law P.P. Chaudhary, TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Kalyan Banerjee, Congress's Vivek Tankha, and DMK's P. Wilson and A. Raja as its key members. Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi did not attend Tuesday's (June 24, 2025) meeting.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Polish liberal candidate's team lodge protest over presidential election
WARSAW (Reuters) -The campaign team of the defeated candidate in Poland's presidential election lodged a protest over alleged voting irregularities, its head said late on Monday, part of a wave of complaints from supporters of liberal Rafal Trzaskowski. Trzaskowski, from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), was narrowly defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 second round, with the nationalist candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party getting 50.89% of the vote. Media reported irregularities in the second round and the Supreme Court has ordered a recount in 13 commissions, but this won't affect the final result materially. "In a democratic electoral process, every voter's vote must be guaranteed due respect by state institutions. The election protest of (Trzaskowski's) campaign representative was sent to the Supreme Court," the chief of Trzaskowski's campaign, Wiola Paprocka, wrote on X late on Monday. She gave no details of the wording of the protest. Another member of the Trzaskowski campaign team, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on Saturday he was filing a protest privately, pointing to an unusual increase in spoiled or blank ballots in areas where Trzaskowski won in the first round. He said that according to a model from UCE Research, there were 800 polling stations where Nawrocki had a "suspiciously high" score, and referred to irregularities in polling stations where a recount has already been ordered. The PiS party says that Trzaskowski's supporters are trying to undermine Poles' faith in the democratic process. Current president and PiS ally Andrzej Duda said on June 9 that "liberal-leftists, want to... take away our freedom of choice." Poles had until Monday to lodge protests with the Supreme Court, and the court has around two weeks to hear them. The Polish electoral commission on Monday confirmed the result of the election but said that in the second round, there were "incidents that could have affected the outcome of the vote." It said it would leave an assessment of these incidents to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court spokesperson said on Monday that it had already registered over 3,000 protests and expected many more.
