Post by pjotr on Nov 21, 2014 21:04:51 GMT 1
Police intervene as protesters occupy electoral commission HQ
21.11.2014 09:03
Police detained 12 people on Thursday night after nationalists occupied part of the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission (PKW) owing to delays in publishing local election results.
Police enter the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka -
The protesters, who included members of the far-right National Movement organisation, staged the protest under the slogan 'Stop Electoral Manipulation,' demanding the instant dismissal of all members of PKW. Computers glitches, partly blamed on hackers, have been causing delays in publishing the results of the 16 November local elections. Conservative opposition party Law and Justice, together with the Democratic Left Alliance, had called on Wednesday for the elections to be repeated, albeit not immediately. However, Law and Justice has already distanced itself from last night's protest, stressing that the party has a “decidedly negative” view of the action. “The invasion and occupation of state institutions is not the solution to the problem and can only deepen the chaos associated with the protracted process by which the results of the local elections are released,” a party statement affirmed.
Protesters occupying a conference room at the seat of the National Electoral Commission. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka -
Last night's action prompted PKW to suspend the vote counting, over fears for security, causing yet further delays to the process.
On Wednesday, President Bronislaw Komorowski had said that “we cannot allow for the integrity of the ballot to be called into question, namely through calls for the elections to be repeated.
''That would be complete madness,'' he added.
Prosecutors have now launched an investigation into the hacking of the computer system used in the vote count.
Regional assembly results trickle in
Meanwhile, by 8 am on Friday morning, just five of Poland's 16 regions had managed to publish the ir official results in the elections to regional assemblies.