In Poland, the conflict between the center-left government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the right-wing conservative opposition led by President Karol Nawrocki is coming to a head over the Constitutional Court. After the escalation on Saturday night, hundreds of demonstrators gathered again in front of the court in the capital Warsaw in the morning.
The organizers of the protests announced the arrival of more demonstrators from several parts of the country later in the day. The police continue to secure the court.
Emergency services had already cordoned off the building yesterday evening after demonstrators - especially from the right-wing camp - tried to gain entry. According to police, objects were thrown at officers. Three demonstrators were arrested.
Accusation: attack on the constitution
The protesters accuse Prime Minister Tusk and his government of an attack on the country's constitution and judiciary. They chanted slogans such as "Put the government on trial" and "Long live the president" - meaning President Nawrocki.
The protests were triggered by an announcement on the Constitutional Court website. It said that the court president and his deputy had been temporarily relieved of their functions and that a newly appointed judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, was taking over as acting director.
It's about more
But the conflict goes deeper. In the tussle over the Constitutional Court, the country's two major political camps are irreconcilably opposed: on the one hand, Tusk's pro-European citizens' coalition and its allies, on the other hand, the right-wing conservative opposition party PiS and President Nawrocki, who is close to it.
The PiS, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, had filled the court with judges who were politically close to it. However, the European Court of Justice had determined that the Constitutional Court could not be viewed as independent and impartial due to serious deficiencies in the appointment of judges and the then president under the aegis of the PiS.
In recent months, however, Nawrocki has resisted swearing in five new constitutional judges nominated by parliament - actually a formal act. When the judges took their oath of office in front of parliament instead, court president Bogdan Swieczkowski, who was nominated during the PiS era - and has now been deposed according to the announcement - refused them access to the building.
Korwin-Piotrowska told TVP that Swieczkowski had made the court unable to act by not admitting the new judges. As the oldest person in the service, she therefore called a meeting of all constitutional judges for November 3rd.
Claims for “restoration of the legal order”
President Nawrocki came to the courthouse that night. Addressing Korwin-Piotrowska and the other new judges, he said: "You are not judges at the Constitutional Court, you are taking over the building illegally." This view was also held by PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the head of the extreme right-wing Confederation alliance, Grzegorz Braun, who both came to the building.
Nawrocki called for “the restoration of the legal order and the withdrawal of the security forces sent by the government from the court premises.” He also announced that he would consult with all parties represented in parliament.
Prime Minister Tusk emphasized in a statement on X that it was his government's duty to restore the rule of law in Poland. "After years of lawlessness under the PiS government, this is a difficult, sometimes painful process that requires decisive action. There is no other way."
