Polish president asks top court to review Donald Tusk’s budget

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Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has asked the country’s constitutional court to review the national budget for 2024, despite warnings from Prime Minister Donald Tusk that such an “irrational” step could lead to snap elections.

The president on Wednesday broadened his dispute with Tusk by questioning the validity of the budget process because two convicted lawmakers who had been stripped of their office were unable to vote when Tusk’s majority adopted it earlier this month.

Tusk on Tuesday warned Duda against such a step, saying it would be “irrational” to involve the constitutional court in the vetting of his budget. If the president went ahead, Tusk said, the governing coalition could call snap elections.

Following Duda’s decision, Tusk focused on the adoption of the budget rather than the latest turn in their conflict.

“The budget was signed and that’s it. The rest doesn’t matter. The money will go to the people, nothing can stop it,” Tusk wrote on social media platform X.

The president, who was a party member and was subsequently backed by the former ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) when he ran for office, has pardoned former PiS interior minister Mariusz Kamiński and his then-deputy Maciej Wąsik, who at one point sought refuge in the presidential palace. PiS has since turned them into a cause célèbre, describing the two as political prisoners and accusing Tusk of ordering their torture — a claim the prime minister denies.

Since Tusk’s election win in October, Duda has joined the opposition in its attempts to derail the pro-EU government’s reforms and drive to oust PiS loyalists from state institutions.

Recent opinion polls show Tusk’s coalition parties have been widening the gap over the opposition led by PiS. But a snap election would represent a big gamble by Tusk that would deepen the political tensions and uncertainty in Poland.

Past presidents have referred the budget to the constitutional court, but not on the grounds invoked by Duda on Wednesday, according to Marek Chmaj, an expert on Polish constitutional law. He said that Duda’s argument about Kamiński and Wąsik was “incorrect” because the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, could pass the budget provided 400 of its 460 members were present.

“The allegation of incorrect procedure when adopting the budget is very serious, because it may be used for the court to declare the entire law unconstitutional,” Chmaj said. “The court in its current form is extremely politicised.”