Polish President Karol Nawrocki intervened yesterday to try to prevent a take-over of the Constitutional Court of the country that was ordered by his political opponent, Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The court building in Warsaw late last night was the site of a large protest of supporters of Nawrocki, after Tusk picked a moment when the President was flying toward Africa to order illegal replacement of the justices.
Footage released by Polish media shows him, surrounded by security personnel, pushing his way through a crowd gathered at the entrance. Inside, Nawrocki confronted Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska and other judges appointed by Tusk’s current parliamentary majority, months ahead of the crucial general elections. Nawrocki and his associates do not recognize their status, while the judges in question maintain that they have the right to assume the Court’s functions.
This tense night followed an announcement that the President of the Court, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, had been suspended from their duties. The decision was announced by Korwin-Piotrowska, but it was contested by the Court’s existing leadership. Police were deployed outside the building, and three protesters were detained following incidents in which some members of the crowd breached a barrier and threw objects at police officers.
Supporters of the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS)—including several prominent politicians from the party—gathered outside the Court. The events deepened the confrontation between President Nawrocki and the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk regarding the composition of—and control over—one of the country’s most important constitutional institutions. The government justifies its actions by citing the need to restore the rule of law, while the opposition characterizes them as an assault on the constitutional order.
Opposition-aligned media in Poland alleged that the public broadcaster, TVP, failed to report on the unfolding events during the critical hours of the night, whereas several private, right-leaning television channels aired segments from outside the Court. This claim concerning the public broadcaster’s coverage was part of a broader discussion regarding how the media reported on the crisis.
