The Irish Times view on upheaval in Poland: a full-on constitutional clash
The Irish Times · Thu Nov ·
Tensions have come to a head over proposed reform of a constitutional tribunal
The drawn-out struggle in Poland as prime minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government tries to undo its predecessor’s legacy of eight years of partisan capture of state institutions has culminated in a dramatic showdown. Since Tusk’s election in 2023, his government has struggled to undo the legacy of the far-right Law and Justice Party (PiS), but run up against repeated vetoes by two successive presidents allied with the opposition.
Tensions came to a head last weekend in a row over appointments to a tribunal which has the power to vet the constitutionality of legislation. PiS supporters scuffled with riot police surrounding the supreme court as president Karol Nawrocki, an opposition supporter, flew back from a foreign mission to confront newly appointed members of the judiciary, citing a threat to the nation’s “internal security”.
One of them, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, had just suspended PiS ally and president of the tribunal, Bogdan Swieczkowski, and his deputy. They had tried to block the appointments by parliament of five new judges to the tribunal in a government bid to unlock the PiS stranglehold on the institution.
Read the full story at The Irish Times · All coverage of this story