Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday that his government would press ahead with efforts to restore the independence of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, as hundreds of protesters gathered for a second night against the suspension of the court’s president.
The pro-European government said the suspension is necessary to restore judicial independence, while critics from the opposition have likened it to a “coup d’etat”. President Karol Nawrocki — who opposes the pro-European government — turned back his plane during a flight to Senegal on Friday evening and returned home. On Friday night, he made his way to the Constitutional Tribunal despite the chaos and said he helped the suspended court president enter the building. Police said they detained three protesters on Friday night after some threw objects at officers and tried to break through the security fence around the court. The dispute over the long-embattled Constitutional Tribunal is likely to deepen political polarization in Poland a year before a parliamentary election, further intensifying the standoff between the pro-European government and the national-conservative opposition party Law and Justice, or PiS.
CNN – Tensions over Poland’s top court ignite as the country’s prime minister and president square off
