Polish PM denounces opposition ‘wave of hate’

Poland’s government on Monday showed no sign of backing down over a controversial budget vote that has sparked a growing political and constitutional crisis.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered in front of parliament for a fourth day, while rows of police officers protected the building. Inside, opposition MPs refused to end a sit-in in the main debating chamber.

Piotr Duda, leader of the Solidarity labor union and a close government ally, threatened to call out his members in a show of support for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. “We’re preparing to come out on to the streets and be counted,” he told Polish state television.

Beata Szydło, the prime minister, denounced the opposition in an interview with the wSieci weekly. “This wave of hate that is being poured out, omnipresent aggression, one provocation after another is simply an effort to overturn the government and undo the results of the elections. There is no doubt about it.”

The crisis started last week when Marek Kuchciński, the speaker of parliament from PiS, proposed tough new restrictions on what reporters could do in parliament, reducing the number of accreditations and imposing limits on where they could work and what they could film.

Most media organizations complained, and they were backed by the opposition, whose MPs blocked the main podium in parliament.

In response, Kuchciński called a Friday meeting of MPs in another room in the parliament building where deputies voted on the annual government budget and a bill cutting benefits for communist-era secret police through a show of hands. Although Kuchciński said there was a quorum, the opposition insists the vote was irregular.

The opposition wants the restrictions on reporters lifted and another budget vote, arguing Friday’s vote was unconstitutional.

“Two conditions: media in parliament and another budget debate,” Ryszard Petru, leader of the opposition Modern party, told Poland’s Radio Zet.

Civic Platform, the largest opposition party, accused Kuchciński of breaking the law and notified the prosecutor’s office.

Petru and other opposition leaders met Sunday with President Andrzej Duda, and on Monday Duda met with Kuchciński and with Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of PiS and Poland’s most powerful politician.

Duda issued an appeal Saturday, calling “on all sides of the political scene to calm the atmosphere.”

The problem for Duda is that he was chosen by Kaczyński to run in last year’s presidential elections, and so far hasn’t been able to distance himself from his political patron, despite a growing series of political clashes and crises as Law and Justice enacts its controversial political reform program.

With the president’s impartiality in question, there aren’t many other Polish institutions that are respected by all political parties who could act as arbitrators to end the crisis.

The powerful Roman Catholic Church, which played a crucial role in negotiating the communists’ retreat from power in 1989, is widely seen as a partisan ally of Law and Justice.

The courts, and particularly the Constitutional Tribunal, have been hobbled by the government and are largely ineffective. Warsaw has sparred with the European Commission over its policy toward the tribunal.

That clash is likely to continue following Monday’s retirement of Andrzej Rzepliński, the head of the tribunal. Duda is unlikely to accept tribunal’s nominations for his replacement, as the government moves to take full control of the court.

“[The] government will use this opportunity to replace Rzepliński — a staunch opponent of PiS — with a more compliant head,” said Andrius Tursa with Teneo Intelligence, a consultancy. “The brewing conflict over the new tribunal’s president will heighten domestic tensions. Public protests and counter-protests, which are already widespread across Poland, are turning increasingly confrontational.”

In Brussels, the College of Commissioners plans to take up the Polish issue during its Wednesday meeting, said Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva.

PiS does appear to be showing some flexibility on the issue of journalists in parliament. Stanisław Karczewski, the PiS speaker of the upper chamber Senate, said there was “no intention of limiting journalists’ access to the work of parliament.”

The opposition has seized on the crisis as a way of limiting PiS’ power. Law and Justice has an absolute majority in parliament, and the opposition has been unable to do much to stop the party’s legislative agenda. However, some street protests have been effective, forcing the government to back away from tough abortion restrictions in October.

“We are demonstrating because our civic freedoms are in danger. We don’t agree with a lot of what PiS is doing,” said Jędrzej Dudkiewicz, a participant waving Polish and EU flags during the anti-government march at the weekend.