Yükleniyor…
'Attack on the Constitutional Tribunal and its judges is another stage in the process of PiS destroying Poland's rule of law by,' says Donald Tusk
By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Saturday evening that police had protected Poland's Constitutional Tribunal from attackers on Friday night during an escalating standoff over control of the country's highest court, accusing the conservative opposition and President Karol Nawrocki of undermining the rule of law.
“The attack on the Constitutional Tribunal and its judges is another stage in the process of destroying the rule of law in Poland by the PiS” – the former ruling Law and Justice party – as well as Nawrocki and former President Andrzej Duda, Tusk said in a televised address to the nation.
Tusk said the judges now seeking to run the tribunal had been lawfully elected but were unlawfully prevented from taking office, while Nawrocki and the opposition maintain that those same judges never legally assumed their posts.
Tusk added that parliament had lawfully elected new judges after the terms of earlier members appointed during Law and Justice (PiS) rule (2015-2023) had expired, but Nawrocki earlier this year refused to formally receive some of their oaths.
“Legally elected members of the tribunal were attacked, and the police at the scene protected the tribunal from the attackers,” Tusk said.
He added that calm could not be restored by “giving way to lawlessness and violence,” saying a democratic state “must be strong and capable of enforcing justice.”
Tusk’s account directly contradicts Nawrocki, who said early Saturday that Poland’s constitutional order had been violated and that there had been a “forcible takeover of a constitutional state body.”
- Accusations of a ‘coup’
The crisis erupted around 6 pm (1700GMT) on Friday after an order appeared on the tribunal’s website suspending President Bogdan Swieczkowski and Vice President Bartlomiej Sochanski from their duties, with Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska assuming responsibility for running the court.
The tribunal’s X account, controlled by the previous leadership, said the website had been unlawfully seized, insisted Swieczkowski and Sochanski remained in office, and accused those involved of committing a “coup.”
Police were deployed around the building after Korwin-Piotrowska warned of threats to judges and staff and possible public disorder.
Nawrocki, who had been flying to Senegal, turned his aircraft around over Spain and returned to Warsaw late Friday.
After meeting Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapinski, he went to the tribunal shortly before 1 am (0000GMT) Saturday, where he confronted Korwin-Piotrowska and other judges whose status he disputes.
Video from inside the court showed Nawrocki telling them: “You are not judges of the Constitutional Tribunal.”
Nawrocki remained at the tribunal until early morning and later said the crisis constituted a threat to Poland’s internal security. He called emergency consultations with parliamentary groups Saturday “to stabilize the political situation and restore constitutional order.”
The confrontation also spread into Poland’s diplomatic corps, with Poland’s ambassadors to both China and Romania handing in their walking papers over the incident.
The opposition also moved Saturday to challenge Tusk’s government directly. Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said a constructive vote of no confidence would be submitted and proposed a former parliament speaker to head a technical government until elections.
The dispute is rooted in a long-running conflict over the Constitutional Tribunal and judicial appointments.
The PiS reshaped the court during its eight years in power, prompting criticism from European institutions over judicial independence.
