The Polish Prime Minister, the conservative Donald Tusk, and the president, the ultranationalist Karol Nawrocki, have agreed to meet face to face to address the crisis unleashed by the takeover of the Constitutional Court (TC), according to the head of Government. Previously, the leader had to endure without the possibility of reply, before the cameras and before the participants of a meeting of the National Security Council, that the head of State accused him of "committing a crime against the Constitution." Nawrocki has given an ultimatum to Tusk to “come to his senses” before Independence Day, which falls on November 11.
Tusk had stated in the morning in an appearance before the press before the Council of Ministers that "the defense of the Constitutional Court and the working conditions of the judges is a duty of the executive branch. And no one from the executive branch has the right to violently break into the premises of the TC, as the president did." Nawrocki showed up at the Constitutional Court headquarters early Saturday morning and struggled with several judges to force his way through.
After the Council of Ministers, Tusk attended the meeting of the National Security Council called by the president with several members of his team and representatives of the political forces and security services. The meeting was scheduled before the crisis, to talk about the possible installation of a permanent US military base, but the TC situation took center stage in the meeting, which lasted five hours.
At the beginning, Nawrocki took the floor to attack Tusk and his Government. He accused the prime minister of deciding to “take over by force an institution of the Polish State on the eve of a holiday” and of attempting to “reestablish the rule of law through methods that, in turn, flagrantly violate the law,” as reported by Rzeczpospolita.
In a very harsh message, the president has warned that “he will not let this pass” and that “he will use all his prerogatives.” “I hope that the prime minister comes to his senses, rectifies and returns Poland's affairs to the Poles,” he insisted, noting that he expects changes before Independence Day. The date does not seem neutral. That day a crowd of far-right nationalists usually tour the capital.
Despite the confrontational tone, Tusk declared in a press conference that he has proposed a face-to-face meeting, of which he will not inform the press in advance to avoid pressure. The prime minister, who this weekend stated that there was no room for compromise on this issue and also had harsh words for the president, has reiterated his position. The judges at the center of the dispute who now make up the majority of the court have been elected by Parliament in accordance with the Constitution and have the right to serve.
general assembly
After a few days of relative calm due to the All Saints' weekend, widely celebrated in Poland, the judges of the TC were called to a General Assembly this Tuesday. It was convened by Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who on Friday assumed command of the TC after temporarily suspending the president and vice president, Bogdan Swieczkowski and Bartlomiej Sochanski.
Only eight of the court's 15 judges participated in the meeting. They are the eight magistrates chosen by the parliamentary majority of the Tusk coalition government, five of whom have not received the oath from the president, as required by law, because Nawrocki refuses.
The other seven are judges chosen at the time by the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS). Among them are Swieczkowski and Sochanski, as well as a judge known as “double judges.” These are three judges that PiS appointed in a previous term to fill vacancies that were already filled by legally elected judges. Therefore, for the defenders of the rule of law and the liberal side, they are not legitimate judges. Of them, one remains in service.
The quorum to make decisions in the assembly of judges is two-thirds of the judges, that is, 10 judges out of 15. But Judge Korwin-Piotrowska and the Government have calculated that, if the suspended judges and the so-called "double" are discounted, the minimum number of judges necessary to decide is eight, a decision that adds to other controversial interpretations of the law. So the new justices have approved the court's budget. They have also chosen by lot the members of the disciplinary committee that must decide whether to lift the immunity of Swieczkowski and Sochanski. The Prosecutor's Office submitted that request to the TC to be able to file charges against them for breach of duty if the investigation it has initiated so advises.
The Supreme Court, made up mostly of judges appointed by PiS that the Executive considers illegitimate - they are called neo-judges and are at the center of another of the major disputes over the rule of law in the country - also had a general assembly called, at the request of the president, Zbigniew Kapinski, who is close to PiS. It could not be held due to lack of quorum.
Those around the Civic Coalition, Tusk's party, called for demonstrations this Tuesday in front of the presidential palace. The protest was celebrated with candles and lanterns calling to defend legality against what they consider to be an outrage by Nawrocki in the crisis. In front of the TC, right-wing sympathizers have also gathered who believe that the Government has carried out a coup d'état by taking control of the TC, suspending its leadership and sending the police to guard the perimeter of the building.
