Politics of Poland

After the unexpected success of the opposition march last Sunday in Warsaw, which put a record half a million people on the streets of the capital according to the organisers, democratic political parties seeking to defeat PiS in the general election are feeling emboldened.

Independent website onet.pl used aerial images to calculate that at least 300,000 took to the streets. The centre of Warsaw was completely paralysed and protesters had to walk across the city to get to the meeting place on Sunday at noon.

Polish President Andrzej Duda arrives at the Opening Session of the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe at the Harpa Conference Center in Reykjavik, Iceland, 16 May 2023. EPA-EFE/Leszek Szymanski

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki surrounded by supporters from across Poland at party convention, 13 May 2023. Photo: BIRN

Yet even if it wanted to cut a deal with the EU, PiS is caught between a rock and hard place with its junior coalition partner, the party of Zbigniew Ziobro. The hardline justice minister won't agree to any compromises with Brussels, but dropping him from the coalition would result in a minority government, which is definitely not an ideal situation in an election year.

So far, Ziobro has opposed any compromise with Brussels, but the new scenario discussed this week is that his party would submit amendments to a presidential draft law to dismantle the Chamber, which PiS would later accept.

Tusk's announcement is important because it means the liberal opposition has received support from maverick politician Pawel Kukiz, whose four MPs are currently key to PiS maintaining its parliamentary majority. To support the opposition request, Kukiz has asked for the commission to have a broader remit, investigating surveillance under several governments, including Civic Platform ones.

The heightened tension between Brussels and Warsaw followed the Polish Constitutional Tribunal's ruling on October 7 that key articles of EU Treaties were incompatible with the Polish constitution.

More than 100,000 people demonstrated in Poland today in support of the country's membership in the European Union, Reuters reported.

This came after the Polish Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that parts of European law were incompatible with the national constitution - something that raised fears that Poland might leave the bloc.

The centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, sounded the alarm on Thursday (7 October), warning that Poland's ruling party is pushing the country towards 'Polexit'.