Poles on Saturday took to the streets to protest against their government amid concerns in Washington and Brussels that their country’s leaders are backsliding on democratic values.
The march in Warsaw took place on the 27th anniversary of the first freely contested election behind the Iron Curtain, which ushered in the end of communist rule in Poland.
It came three days after the EU’s executive stepped up its first probe into rule of law of a member nation, calling on the Polish government to restore the ability of its highest court to effectively review legislation.
Photo: Reuters
The Law and Justice Party, led by former Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has fallen out with Poland’s allies since winning elections in October last year, as its drive to consolidate power triggered the EU investigation and the sovereign’s first credit rating downgrade.
Former US president Bill Clinton last month said that Poland, long regarded as a model for its embrace of democracy following communism, was sliding toward an “authoritarian dictatorship” like that seen in Russia, prompting Kaczynski to tell Clinton to go see a doctor.
“Poles were never as united as they were on the day communism ended,” said Beata Laciak, a sociology professor at Warsaw University. “This is the symbolic message at this protest — that people want rule of law and civil liberties and will defend the way of life that was started in 1989.”
Municipal authorities said about 50,000 people took part in the Warsaw march, while organizers said “picnics” and gatherings were held in 20 other cities.
Carrying Poland’s red-and-white flags and the EU’s blue-and-gold emblems, protesters shouted “freedom, equality, democracy.”
Police estimated the turnout at about 10,000.
The EU’s executive expressed misgivings last week because the government has not implemented the Constitutional Court’s rulings and Polish President Andrzej Duda — a former Law and Justice lawmaker — has not sworn in three justices chosen by the previous parliament.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker scolded Poland’s leaders, saying that “democracy is more than a parliamentary majority. It’s also about civil society.”
Poland’s freely elected government is exercising the will of the people, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has said.
The ruling party is working on a compromise to end the dispute with the EU with another overhaul of the Constitutional Court, legislation that the biggest opposition party said would further erode democratic standards.
Kaczynski, addressing Law and Justice officials in Warsaw, on Saturday said that Poland’s independence was threatened and vowed to overcome “rebellions” aimed at undermining his plans to change Poland into a fairer and wealthier country.
“By defending our sovereignty, we defend our right to quick development,” he said. “We won’t allow Poland to only be pool of cheap labor for our richer neighbors.”
All but one of the parliamentary seats up for grabs in the historic ballot 27 years ago was taken by the anti-communist opposition in the Solidarity movement, a result that emboldened eastern Europe’s democratic efforts and ultimately helped bring down the Berlin Wall five months later.
Fast forward a generation, and a group calling itself The Committee in Defense of Democracy, known by its Polish acronym KOD, is organizing protests against a government that has taken over public media, subordinated prosecutors and sidelined the Constitutional Court.
“At KOD events you often meet people who reminisce about their old Solidarity days,” Laciak said. “They never expected to be protesting like this again.”
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