Polish president holds talks theater about a mess his party created.
Anyone what’s going on there?
It is a mess.
The constitutional court have bern compromised by the last (PiS) government. They have illegally appointed some judges (afterva smaller precedent by their predecesors). PiS then used the court to justify their right-wing policies (including stregthened abortion ban) and to secure their corruption.
But after their machinations the constitutional court was not treated seriously as a legal body. Just some polititians (and those idiot-style) roleplaying as important judges. Their verdicts were mostly ignored by lower courts or the current government.
PiS is gone and now we have Tusk’s government. Which was supposed to be democratic, not far-right at all and following a rule of law. But in fact, they are not much less right-wing than PiS - they hardly did anythig about the abortion ban, practically nothing for LGBT rights and still use the anti-migrant rhetorics. Economically they are even more right-wing than PiS - corporation privileges and privatizations for them are more important than healthcare, worker rights or housing. The ‘rule of law’ went out of the window too, e.g. when the prime minister decided to suspend some human rights.
There is also the idiot president. Aligned with PiS, vetoes everything current government does. A former pimp and hooligan. Still a good excuse for the new government for doing nothin important - “president will veto anyway”.
And now the current events: government decided to take control of the constitutional court. No ‘rule of law’ here. When current goverment pushes their own judges to the court it does not make it any more legal. It still will be a joke that cannot be treated seriously. But the president, PiS and the minor far-right (much more far-right than PiS) parties can play ‘defenders of the constitution’ now.
Also, in opinion polls the idiot president is trusted much more than the prime minister. This won’t help in public reception of the events.
I am very afraid of the next elections… The current ‘lesser evil’ government does everything to let PiS with the two far-right parties win those. And gives them good arguments for using more political violence after that.
Economically they are even more right-wing than PiS - corporation privileges and privatizations for them are more important than healthcare, worker rights or housing. The ‘rule of law’ went out of the window too, e.g. when the prime minister decided to suspend some human rights.
This is bad, really bad. But not unexpected from a centrist gov. The right wing populist govs sometimes do more on the economic front for the masses in order to maintain their consent. Centrists tend to do more neoliberalism which is materially toxic. I remember there was hope when Tusk got elected. What you’re saying really sounds like they’ve been just another tooth on the righward ratchet. 😔
A democratic centrist government is trying to uninstall a legacy ultra-right wing supreme court appointee.
The reason is they saw what happened in the US when the Supreme Court went fascist after Ruth Ginsberg died and was replaced by A Trumpian fascist making a majority.
The gong show going on right now in the US is because this was the first time the major checks and balances on power failed.
Poland wants to avoid similar issues from the ultra right. Here is a good summary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_Bogdan_Święczkowski
I see their party is popular enough to have the political capital to deal with this, so I guess it might work.
