Polish Parliamentary Committee Recommends Tribunal Trial for Central Bank Governor

A Polish parliamentary committee has recommended that the country's central bank governor, Adam Glapiński, face trial before the State Tribunal over alleged constitutional and legal violations during his tenure.

The committee's chairman, Zdzisław Gawlik, announced the recommendation on Friday, saying there were sufficient grounds to bring the governor before the tribunal.

The allegations against Glapiński include indirectly financing Poland's budget deficit through asset purchases in 2020 and 2021, conducting the operations without proper authorisation from the Monetary Policy Council, and allegedly politicising the central bank.

However, Glapiński has denied the accusations, describing the committee's proceedings as unjustified and harmful to Poland's national interests. He has also insisted that the central bank will not succumb to political pressure.

According to Reuters, 11 of the committee's 21 members supported the recommendation. The committee's deliberations and hearings were conducted behind closed doors, and Glapiński was not invited to testify.

The committee's report, alongside two minority motions submitted by opposition lawmakers who opposed the recommendation, will now be forwarded to Poland's lower parliamentary chamber, the Sejm, for a vote.

The date of the vote has not been fixed, but it cannot take place until at least 21 days after lawmakers have been given the opportunity to review the report.

The controversy has intensified political tensions between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's governing coalition and the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost power in 2023.

Glapiński has longstanding ties to Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the PiS party. Meanwhile, Tusk's coalition has pledged to hold individuals it accuses of wrongdoing under the previous administration accountable.

The proposed tribunal proceedings have also raised questions about the legal requirements for approving the move.

In 2024, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled that a three-fifths parliamentary majority would be required to approve the resolution and that referring the central bank governor to the tribunal would not automatically suspend him from office. However, the government disputes the legality of those rulings.

Zbigniew Konwiński, head of the governing Civic Coalition's parliamentary faction, expressed confidence that the government would secure enough votes to approve the resolution.

In contrast, PiS lawmaker Iwona Arent said she suspected the government intended to suspend Glapiński and warned that her party could seek assistance from international institutions responsible for safeguarding central bank independence.

The European Central Bank declined to comment on the committee's recommendation.

Glapiński, who is serving his second and final term as governor of the National Bank of Poland, is expected to leave office in June 2028.

The parliamentary vote will determine whether the recommendation proceeds to the next stage.