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Poland's president to veto controversial laws amid protests Poland's president to veto controversial laws amid protests
(35 minutes later)
Poland’s president says he will veto two contentious bills that are widely seen as attacks on the independence of the judicial system and are part of a planned legal overhaul by the ruling party that has sparked days of nationwide protests. Poland’s president has said he will veto controversial judicial reforms that have sparked days of nationwide street protests and prompted the EU to threaten unprecedented sanctions.
In announcing his decision on Monday, Andrzej Duda broke openly for the first time with Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party. Duda is closely aligned with the party and has supported its agenda since taking office in 2015. “I have decided to send back to parliament – in which case to veto – the law on the supreme court, as well as the law on the National Council of the Judiciary,” Andrzej Duda said in a televised announcement.
The Polish currency, the złoty, immediately rose against the euro, as investors saw the decision as lowering the political risk in Poland. “The law would not strengthen the sense of justice in society,” he added, explaining that his decision came after lengthy consultations with legal experts over the weekend. “These laws must be amended,” he said.
The attempt by Poland's Law and Justice to take control of the judicial system should be seen as part of a wider campaign to dismantle democratic checks and balances on the government’s actions, from its takeover of state media to its capture of the country’s Constitutional Tribunal. The reforms proposed by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) would have increased political control over Poland’s judiciary. They triggered an angry response from critics, who accused PiS of trying to curtail the independence of the courts.
The attempt by Poland's Law and Justice party to take control of the judicial system should be seen as part of a wider campaign to dismantle democratic checks and balances on the government’s actions, from its takeover of state media to its capture of the country’s constitutional tribunal.
Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS’s leader, has developed a theory known in Poland as ‘impossibilism’, the idea that no serious reform of Polish society and institutions is possible due to these checks and balances, and what he describes as the vested interests of liberal elites and foreigners intent on exploiting the country.Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS’s leader, has developed a theory known in Poland as ‘impossibilism’, the idea that no serious reform of Polish society and institutions is possible due to these checks and balances, and what he describes as the vested interests of liberal elites and foreigners intent on exploiting the country.
Duda said he would veto two of three bills recently passed by lawmakers. One would have put the supreme court under the political control of the ruling party – giving the justice minister, who is also prosecutor general, power to appoint judges. Duda’s declaration marks the first time that he has publicly split with Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of PiS. Since his inauguration, Duda has been seen as something of a Kaczyński puppet.
“I have decided that I will send back to Sejm (the lower house of parliament), which means I will veto the bill on the supreme court, as well as the one about the National Council of the Judiciary,” Duda said after days of mass street protests. Some commentators are sceptical whether his apparent assertion of authority is authentic, or merely an attempt to quell the protests; cynics believe Duda will propose amendments that do little to address the main concerns about the legislation.
Duda said a prosecutor general should not have such powers. But Duda insisted that political interference in the judiciary should not be up for discussion. Among the changes was a proposal to allow the attorney general, a position held by the justice minister, to be able to influence decisions by the supreme court.
Duda’s step won the praise of members of the political opposition who had been urging him to veto the bills, seen by many Poles and the European Union as attacks on the separation of powers in the young democracy. “It should not be part of our tradition that the attorney general can interfere in the work of the supreme court,” Duda said.
Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, a leading member of the opposition party Modern, called it a step in the right direction and an “act of courage.” She said Duda’s decision also shows the power of civic protests. The Polish senate backed the reforms on Saturday, but they still required the president’s signature.
Katarzyna Lubnauer, head of the parliamentary caucus of the opposition party Nowoczesna, said: “What we had was not a reform, but appropriation of the courts. I congratulate all Poles, this is a great success”. Days of protests across Poland had followed the proposals by PiS, which has been in power since 2015. Large numbers held a candlelit protest outside the supreme court in Warsaw on Sunday night, pleading with Duda to veto the reforms, which they claimed marked a shift towards authoritarian rule.
Duda said that the country’s justice system as it works now is in need of reform, but he said that the changes that lawmakers had proposed threaten to create an oppressive system and that the protests of recent days show that the changes would divide society. The reforms have set PiS on a collision course with the European commission, which has threatened to stop Poland’s voting rights if it introduced them. Donald Tusk, the European council president and a former Polish prime minister, has warned of a “black scenario that could ultimately lead to the marginalisation of Poland in Europe”.
He said that there is no tradition in Poland for a prosecutor general to have such large powers and he would not agree to that now. Concern has also been expressed by the US government.
He also said that he consulted many experts before making his decision, including lawyers, sociologists, politicians and even philosophers. But he said the person who influenced him the most was Zofia Romaszewska, a leading anti-Communist dissident in the 1970s and 1980s. But Kaczyński’s government has staunchly defended the law changes, which he said were vital in the fight against corruption and would help make the judicial system more efficient. It has accused opponents of the moves as representatives of the elite trying to protect their privileged status.
He said Romaszewska told him: “Mr. President, I lived in a state where the prosecutors general had an unbelievably powerful position and could practically do everything. I would not like to go back to such a state.” Poland’s currency, the zloty, immediately rose against the euro, with investors interpreting Duda’s announcement as having stalled a constitutional crisis.
Duda said he was also vetoing a bill changing the functioning of the National Council of the Judiciary. The change, among other things, would have given lawmakers the power to appoint judges, politicising the courts. However, he said he was going to sign a third bill that reorganises the functioning of local courts. Katarzyna Lubnauer, head of the parliamentary caucus of the opposition party Nowoczesna welcomed the veto. “What we had wasn’t a reform, but appropriation of the courts,” she said. “I congratulate all Poles, this is really a great success.”
Duda said he consulted many experts before making his decision, including lawyers, sociologists, politicians and philosophers. But he said the person who influenced him the most was Zofia Romaszewska, a leading anti-Communist dissident in the 1970s and 1980s.
He said Romaszewska told him: “Mr President, I lived in a state where the prosecutor general had an unbelievably powerful position and could practically do everything. I would not like to go back to such a state.”
The former Polish president and democracy campaigner Lech Wałęsa said it was a “difficult and a courageous decision” for Duda to reject the bills, and said it showed that Duda “begins to feel like a president”. He called on Poles to continue their protests to force Duda to reject a third bill in the package on changes to the judiciary.
“We will either make [the government] turn back or we will bring about a change,” Wałęsa said.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this reportAssociated Press and Reuters contributed to this report