Marek Woch, a candidate for the President of the Republic of Poland in the 2025 elections, revealed that he received a letter from the National Electoral Commission (PKW) asking him about his participation in presidential debates organized by TV Republika. “So now presidential candidates will have to explain why they accepted invitations to debates, and this is democracy?” Woch asked. The spokesperson for the National Electoral Office maintains that this is in accordance with procedures, and the reason for the inquiries is that not all candidates participated in the debate. TV Republika’s programming director, Michał Rachoń, responded to the spokesperson’s statement.
On Thursday, in Maria Raczyńska’s program, Marek Woch, a former presidential candidate, revealed shocking information. He said that he recently received a letter from the National Electoral Commission regarding his participation in debates organized by TV Republika during the 2025 presidential campaign.
“I read: ‘Regarding the joint appearances of Marek Woch with Artur Bartoszewicz, Grzegorz Braun, Szymon Hołownia, Karol Nawrocki, Sławomir Mentzen, Joanna Senyszyn, Krzysztof Stanowski, Marek Jakubiak, and Adrian Zandberg on Republika,’ there was first one debate, then another. And what are they asking? ‘I request the identification of the entity or entities responsible for and financing the organization and possible co-organization of the mentioned events. I also request clarification as to which of the invoices attached by the committee to the submitted financial documentation concern the organization of technical services, production, or broadcasting of the indicated events,'” Woch listed.
“So now presidential candidates will have to explain why they accepted invitations to debates, and this is democracy? And now they will be looking for ‘connections,’ on what basis committees delegated their candidates to debates, that it could be some kind of benefit?” he added.
“Another Scandal”
Marcin Chmielnicki, spokesperson for the National Electoral Office, responded to Woch’s post, stating that “in this situation, there is nothing extraordinary or biased.”
“The regulations in this area are unambiguous – a debate, according to the Electoral Code, only counts if ALL candidates participate. If not everyone participates, PKW asks why. This is not a whim, this is the law,” Chmielnicki said.
TV Republika’s programming director, Michał Rachoń, in turn responded:
“Rafał Trzaskowski was invited to every one of our debates. The fact that he chickened out is his problem, not the organizers’ or those participants who had #LosCojones to take part. KBW’s proceedings in this matter are another scandal. Marek Woch is 100 percent right,” Rachoń said.
Is the TVP Case Also Being Investigated?
The issue was discussed on the program Rewolwer on TV Republika.
Jarosław Olechowski, head of the station’s editorial team, stated, referring to Chmielnicki’s post, that “in that case, it will no longer be possible for channels like Republika to organize debates if one of the candidates, for example Mr. Trzaskowski, refuses to participate.”
“The point is that now they will accuse the candidates who took part in our debate, or TV Republika, of illegal financing of their electoral campaigns because we gave them airtime. It’s absurd,” Olechowski said.
A question was also raised as to whether the debate organized by TVP in liquidation in Końskie, where not all candidates were present, is being investigated.
“Documents have also been revealed showing that TVP produced Rafał Trzaskowski’s events. De facto, like a production company, it ran his election campaign using funds below actual costs,” Piotr Matczuk reminded.
Miłosz Kłeczek pointed out that debates on TV Republika had a significant impact on public opinion:
“The debates resonated very strongly. Viewership results were outstanding. We immediately said, even gave such signposts to Rafał Trzaskowski – Mr. Rafał, if you don’t come to the debate on Republika, you will lose the election. You must fight for the electorate. (…) He chickened out and lost the election. Perhaps the point is to prevent us from organizing more debates,” Kłeczek concluded.