Poland’s opposition believes the government’s new law will push tens of thousands of citizens onto the streets today. It could see Tusk, the leading opposition politician, banned from politics for years.
Donald Tusk promises “a sea of white and red flags”. They will “give unprecedented public advice”.
The former Polish prime minister and now the most prominent candidate of the Polish opposition called for a “June 4 March” through Warsaw. If Tusk has his way, this Sunday will be a demonstration of power for the opposition.
In Poland, where a new parliament will be elected in late autumn, the ruling PiS party has so far dominated the debate. The opposition parties are primarily concerned with the reaction – the generous financial promises made by PiS and the campaign criticizing Germany and the EU and the accusation that DTusk is an agent of German interests.
A walk through Warsaw’s city center is now intended to bring about a turning point. According to opinion polls, as the election is still wide open, the opposition wants to show its presence. Several tens of thousands of attendees are expected, with some estimates speaking of more than 100,000.
The controversial location of Auschwitz
So the PiS party is making every effort to discredit the demonstration in advance. One online spot in particular drew criticism. In the film, the march is associated with the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Polish journalist Tomasz Liss, a well-known critic of PiS, had tweeted that “a chamber” would also be found for President Andrzej Duda and PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski – widely understood to refer to the gas chambers. Liz later apologized that she was a jail cell.
However, PiS’s inclusion of this reference to Auschwitz in its business is considered a major violation of the ban, and has not brought criticism from the Auschwitz memorial and President Duda.
A law becomes a problem for PiS
Indeed, it is the PiS-led government above all that can attract the most interest to the march. This is due to the controversial “Legs Dusk”. Earlier this week, President Duda said in a televised speech that he would sign a law investigating Russian influence in Polish politics.
According to this, since 2007 – namely from the current opposition candidate Dusk’s government – there has been a special commission to determine whether Russia has been able to influence Polish politics. Among other things, Tusk was accused of unfair gas supply contracts for Poland.
The Commission is to be appointed by Parliament, has powers similar to that of a court and is at the same time a lawyer and a judge. It can retroactively reverse executive decisions, but above all it can punish administration staff and politicians for pro-Russian actions.
According to the law, the accused can be barred from holding public office for up to ten years. That would be the end of any political career. The text of the law already specifies when the commission must submit its first report: on September 17, 1939, the anniversary of the Soviet attack on Poland.
A blatant attack on Donald Tusk
Critics call the law “Legs Tusk” because it is a clearly recognizable attempt to drive PiS’s staunchest opponent Tusk out of the running, or at least damage it before the election. The EU Commission was concerned, as was the US ambassador to Poland.
Many Polish lawyers doubted the constitutionality of the law, including 17 former constitutional judges, who in an open letter not only criticized “Legs Dusk” but also basically complained about cuts in the independence of Polish courts by the BIS. So “Legs Dusk” turned the opposition’s campaign march on June 4 into a demonstration for democracy in Poland.
The President retreats
The fierce criticism of the plan has also caught the Polish government by surprise. Sources close to Duda initially said the president wanted to explain the law in a phone call to his U.S. representative, Joe Biden.
Duda was back in front of the cameras on Friday morning. The President tried to disable the Special Commission within two days of the law coming into effect. He would propose to Parliament that the Commission should be composed exclusively of experts, and that after a judgment an appeal should be made to the regular courts — which should be final — and that it should be left on recommendations.
The possibility of punishment requires a ten-year exclusion from politics. According to Duda, the commission itself serves Poland’s interests and should come.
Tusk laughs at parliamentary debate over legislation to investigate Russian influence in Poland – does he suspect it will boomerang for PiS?
A reminder of 1989
The PiS party and the president close to it were in panic, which was later widely commented on. Attempting to attack the opposition will backfire on national conservatives.
And PiS has a knack for historically charged data. Because the protest march through Warsaw on June 4 is no coincidence. In 1989, the first semi-free elections in Poland since World War II were held on this day. For the first time, the Poles were able to freely elect at least some representatives – the end of the dictatorship.
Polish opposition parties want to connect with this sentiment this Sunday – above all Tusk.
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