Łukasz Osmalak, the party’s treasurer, told state news agency PAP on Tuesday that the group, a junior government coalition partner, wanted investigators to examine how “more than 26,000 unauthorized votes” were cast in a ballot in which just over 800 party activists were eligible to vote.
“We are convinced that someone from outside interfered,” he said, adding that the party did not yet know who did it, how or why.
Deputy Digital Affairs Minister Michał Gramatyka, a Poland 2050 lawmaker, said on social media that the party’s leadership had also decided to report the case to the National Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“The documents we have show that the party prepared the election properly, interference in the system occurred during voting,” he wrote.
The second round, held online on Monday, was meant to decide between Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, the minister for regional policy, and Paulina Hennig-Kloska, the climate and environment minister.
Voting started after 4 p.m. and was scheduled to end at 10 p.m., with results to be announced afterward. By about 11:30 p.m., the results had still not been released, and media reports cited irregularities.
Poland 2050 later said the second round, held on January 12, had been annulled due to technical problems, and that a new date would be set.
Party leader Szymon Hołownia, a prominent centrist figure in Poland’s governing camp, called a meeting of delegates for January 16.
The gathering is expected to decide how the leadership election will proceed “as quickly as possible” while ensuring security, the statement said, adding that the credibility of the process was the party’s “absolute priority.”
Five candidates initially sought to succeed Hołownia, with the first round held on Saturday.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP