Tensions are rising around the passage of the 2024 budget act. The clock is ticking, even more so Seim Marshal Shimon Holonia postponed the session It is scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. And all this because of the confusion surrounding the case of Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Vesic.
“Rzeczpospolita” writes that if President Andrzej Duda adopts the method of calculating the deadlines for the adoption of the budget unfavorable for the government, he may call early elections. “This may happen if the budget bill is not signed by January 29,” we read.
Will the President send the budget bill to the Constitutional Tribunal?
The newspaper notes that the president has “another ace up his sleeve” as he can send the budget bill to the Constitutional Tribunal, which supports PiS and may challenge the budget for various reasons.
– He can assess whether this specific arrangement of state revenues and expenses meets the requirement of the Council of Ministers to act rationally, taking into account the constitutional values, – says Prof. Jacek Zaleśny, constitutionalist from the University of Warsaw.
On the other hand, Prof. Andrzej Jackiewicz from the University of Bialystok believes that the Constitutional Tribunal can assess procedural errors in the adoption of the act. – For example, it is possible to consider possible doubts regarding the status of two MPs and the impact of this situation on the budget adoption procedure – says the expert. However, it finds that procedural defects do not necessarily render an act unconstitutional.
The constitutionalists interviewed by “RZ” unanimously declare that there is no danger of the dissolution of the Seimas, even if the budget law is questioned in the tribunal. “If the government proves that this does not correspond to the constitution, the government will still be able to implement financial policy on the basis of the project”, – we read in the newspaper.
Also read:
Prof. Dudek: Tusk hopes that the president will not dare. And what if he dares?