In 2020, when the presidential election was planned to be held by correspondence due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Yaroslav Govin worked as the deputy prime minister in the PiS government (at the same time he was the head of the Porozumienie coalition party). Govin was vocally opposed to the organization of envelope elections, which caused a crisis in the government coalition. We remind you that the presidential elections were finally held traditionally.
Investigative Committee of the Seimas Checks who and how spent several tens of millions of zlotys on the organization of envelope elections.
– I heard the idea of holding postal elections from Adam Bilan. My friends and I proposed postponing the elections in two years from the agreement, – said Yaroslav Govin during the meeting. He stated that he was against envelope elections because, in his opinion, they would introduce enormous chaos.
– I was interested in the procedure for holding elections in Germany. Their reliable preparation will take many months, not a few weeks. I think the awareness of these difficulties was quite widely known in PiS circles as well, Govin said. The former politician said that “there were many conversations with Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in which they encouraged me to change my position regarding the elections.”
Govin: I didn't want to overthrow the government
– I was informed that there was a search for discrediting me or arguments, colloquially speaking, hacks that forced me to change my position. I was informed that my son's business was inspected, said Yaroslav Govin.
The witness testified that the introduction of a state of emergency was a topic during the discussions on the organization of envelope elections in the PiS coalition. – In my opinion, this was a good way to move the presidential elections. Kaczynski did not agree to this because he was afraid that subsequent governments would use this example to manipulate the election date, he added.
In addition, the former vice-premier assured that he was not interested in holding positions in exchange for open opposition elections and the overthrow of the then Morawiecki government. – I met Kosignac-Kamish many times. Michal Kaminski took part in one of them and added that his goal was to prevent the organization of postal voting, not to overthrow the government.
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