Karol Nawrocki refused to sign the amendment to the Public Collective Transport Act on 19 August, and on 20 August explained the veto with an argument of shorter contracts and weaker function of municipalities. The Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak replies that 10 million Poles will be affected by the problem of transport. Real transport in the state is at stake, without government contributions and financial chaos.
Veto to the Transport Act
President Karol Nawrocki refused to sign an amendment to the Public Collective Transport Act. As she stated Office of the president of Poland, it is simply a bill dated 31 July 2026, 2700 seismic printing. The decision was made on 19 August, and the day later the Palace widely explained its political and applicable justification.
Nawrocki argues that the task did not solve the problem of communication exclusion. According to the president, the government returned to the logic of shorter contracts with carriers: alternatively of unchangeable contracts, contracts would appear for up to 5 years. The Palace argues that it is hard to require a local bus station or private carrier to invest in buses if he does not know if he will inactive have an order in a fewer years.
This is not an academic dispute over a paragraph. For a tiny town, the bus means to scope the school, doctor, work and office. If the strategy is unstable, they will not pay press conferences in Warsaw, but people outside the metropolises.
Municipalities at the end of the queue
The President's second allegation concerns the function of municipalities. Nawrocki points out that it is the local governments closest to the inhabitants that know where the bus line is needed. Meanwhile, the bill, in his opinion, pushed it lower in accessing money from the fund. The president besides talked about the hazard of replacing regular buses by a passenger car on demand, without statutory relief for seniors, students and people with disabilities.
It is worth recalling a simple strategy rule: presidential veto covers the full bill, and the Sejm may reject them by a majority of 3/5 votes with at least half the Members present. The president doesn't choose single rules to delete. Rulers frequently pretend otherwise, due to the fact that it is more convenient to shift work for their own legislative cuisine.
Klimczak answers: 10 million with problem
Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak did not accept the President's arguments. According to Wprost's account, he wrote on X that 10 million Poles will inactive have problem getting to work, school, doctor and office. He besides pointed out that the bill was intended to supply at least 4 pairs of connections a day between municipalities and districts and to introduce safety standards.
It's a strong counterargument, due to the fact that communication exclusion is real. You mustn't underestimate him. Only that the answer to the real problem cannot be a bill which according to local authorities and carriers threatens to break the stableness of financing. The Polish state needs buses, not another model designed from behind the desk.
State dispute presidency
Nawrocki recalled that within a year he signed 264 laws and vetoed 41. He besides pointed out that he had directed 22 own legislative initiatives to the Sejm, 1 of which the parliament passed. This dispute is part of a wider conflict over the function of the President, which we have written about in the text Karol Nawrocki wants to change the model of presidency.
The Tusk government wants to show all veto as a blockade. The president replies that he defends citizens against miswritten laws, with probates and no respect for the practice of surviving outside large cities. In this case, both sides are talking about residents of smaller towns. The difference is that any promise a fast effect in the bill, others ask who truly will keep the lines and what they will pay for them.
The Polish village and tiny cities do not request propaganda bidding. They request unchangeable transport, fair backing and a state that does not confuse the central table with the lives of people. If the government has a better project, it should show it without traps and add money. Then the presidential pen will be a test, not an excuse.
Source: Polish President's Office, Wprost
