Political crisis in Poland: confrontation over the Constitutional Tribunal

Escalation of the crisis

In Poland, the political crisis escalated after Constitutional Tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the chairman appointed during the previous government, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, from their positions for one month. Following this decision, police were mobilized near the Tribunal building, which led to a confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement officers. According to the police, they were only ensuring security, but the opposition and President Karol Nawrocki accuse the government of seizing the court building by force. 1TV+7

Positions of the President and the government

President Karol Nawrocki cut short his official visit to Senegal and returned to Warsaw. Nawrocki stated that the constitutional order in the country had been violated and called on the government to withdraw security forces from the Tribunal's territory. The President also noted that he would hold consultations with parliamentary groups in order to stabilize the situation. Rustavi 2+6

For his part, Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated in a televised address that the Tribunal, which was established by the previous government, did not represent a real court. According to Tusk, removing the judges appointed by "Law and Justice" (PiS) is a difficult but necessary process of restoring the rule of law. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski noted that the alternative to these events was an unconstitutional transformation of Poland into a presidential republic. 1TV+5

Legal dispute

Bogdan Święczkowski called the authorities' actions a "coup d'état" and stated that the legitimate composition of the Tribunal continues to work. In parallel, Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek filed a motion with the Tribunal to lift the immunity of Święczkowski and Sochański in order to initiate criminal prosecution against them. 1TV+4