Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk vowed to press on with changes at the top court and accused the opposition of stirring up violence in an attempt to destroy the rule of law as the political crisis continued to spiral.
tribunal chief Bogdan Swieczkowski won’t recognize them and the president has refused to accept their oaths of office While parliament has filled vacancies for most of the judges. “I’m confident that the Constitutional Tribunal will begin to function as it ought to — independently, autonomously, and in accordance with the Constitution. Footage published on social media showed the president arriving at the court early Saturday, just after midnight, and forced his way into the building past a group of judges who tried to bar his entry. The top court has been paralyzed by the ongoing disputes. Meanwhile, the government doesn’t publish the court’s rulings. Neither the president nor the leader of the biggest opposition party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, spoke after Nawrocki’s consultations with parties.
“We have waited too long to be intimidated and to back down now,” Tusk said. Tusk said the judges were attacked. “In a state governed by the rule of law, a politician cannot enter a court or tribunal to issue orders or intimidate judges — not even if that politician is the president,” Tusk said, adding “might and boorishness do not determine who is right. Nawrocki’s foreign policy aide, Marcin Przydacz, called Tusk’s speech “confrontational” and said it will only serve to “sharpen social tensions. It reflects the prime minister’s fear, as he knows what consequences he will face in the future for breaking the law,” he told Bloomberg. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak Kamysz, who heads a junior party in the four-way ruling coalition, said the country needed “a constitutional reset.”
Tusk said in a TV address on Saturday that the Constitutional Tribunal in its current format isn’t independent and his government’s attempts to fix it have been sabotaged by the Law & Justice party and President Karol Nawrocki.
