Warsaw protesters censure government for Constitutional Court reform
People have taken to the streets of Warsaw in protest against a move by the government to change the status quo of Poland’s Constitutional Court and nominate new figures to the top judicial body.
About 10,000 people gathered in the Polish capital on Saturday to protest against the measure taken by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS).
Protesters chanted slogans against the PiS leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. They said the nominations are meant to politicize the top court and neutralize its power.
“We are going to defend democracy; we are going to defend the constitution,” the crowd chanted.
Similar demonstrations were held in at least 20 other locations across Poland with the public television estimating the number of the people at 4,000 in Gdansk and 1,000 in Lublin.
The protests came a week after about 50,000 people marched in Warsaw against the PiS, urging the party to heed public demands for democracy.
High-profile figures, including Poland's Nobel Peace laureate and former president, Lech Walesa, warned that the new move by the PiS could seriously threaten the stability of Poland.
Walesa, who was among the protesters, called for an “open and democratic” reform process, and warned that the other way forward for the Poles would be to go to a “civil war.”
Kaczynski and the PiS have accused members of Poland’s highest judicial body of protecting their own interests, saying they want to break up the “band of cronies” in the top court. The conservative PiS, which saw in December a sharp decrease in its approval ratings, has also launched a debate in the parliament to raise the bar for Constitutional Court rulings, from a simple majority of judges to a two-thirds majority.
The PiS supporters have held counter-demonstrations in Warsaw and other places, saying they will defend the party’s constitutional moves.
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