Speaking at party headquarters in Warsaw, Kaczyński said PiS had been deprived of PLN 46 million (around EUR 11 million, USD 13 million) in state funding and was facing serious financial problems.
PiS is a nationalist-conservative party that governed Poland from 2015 until late 2023.
“We have very many expenses,” Kaczyński said, appealing to supporters of PiS and the broader political right to send money to the party.
“Every contribution counts,” he added, saying small donations mattered as well.
Polish opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński (centre) speaks during a press conference at the headquarters of his right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party in Warsaw on Thursday, April 16, 2026. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
Kaczyński said PiS could win next year’s parliamentary election, as it had helped Karol Nawrocki win the presidential race last year, but warned that doing so without more money would be "very difficult."
He said the party still had donors, but support was too low for its current needs.
Mariusz Błaszczak, head of the PiS parliamentary caucus, said the party’s lawmakers were already paying extra monthly contributions, PLN 1,000 for members of Poland’s parliament and PLN 5,000 for members of the European Parliament.
He said those payments were not enough to cover the costs of a party that is traveling around the country and preparing its political program.
The subsidy dispute dates back to August 2024, when Poland’s National Electoral Commission (PKW) rejected PiS’s financial report from the 2023 parliamentary campaign, citing PLN 3.6 million in irregular spending.
That led the finance ministry to reduce public money due to the party.
In Poland, parties that win enough support in parliamentary elections receive state funding, making subsidies an important part of their regular political activity.
Party treasurer Henryk Kowalczyk said the penalty affecting PiS had been spread over three years and that regular subsidy payments were not expected to resume until April 2027.
He urged supporters to donate as they did before last year’s presidential election, when, he said, Nawrocki’s campaign committee raised PLN 23 million.
Kaczyński did not address concerns inside PiS over former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s new association, Rozwój Plus (Development Plus).
Morawiecki appeared at the event alongside other senior party figures after earlier posting a message on X pledging to work for a PiS victory in the next election.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP