WARSAW Arrests, dismissals, escape to the presidential palace and large demonstrations. The first steps of the new Polish government have been stormy.
The new prime minister Donald Hardly The pro-EU and liberal government started its work a month ago. Tusk wants to take Poland in a completely different direction than the previous government, which was led by the national conservative Law and Justice party (PiS).
The task is enormous, as PiS had time to shape the legal system and the media significantly during its eight-year reign. The party appointed people loyal to it to key positions in various agencies. The new government is trying to get rid of them, but it won’t be easy.
The government’s tough measures arouse conflicting feelings in the people of Warsaw.
Studying law at the University of Warsaw Ludwik Pwernicki says that Poland was already a divided nation.
– The government’s actions further divide Poland into two, says Pwernicki.
In his opinion, the purpose of the government is good, but the means are wrong.
Watch the video below for more comments from Warsaw residents about Poland’s future prospects.
Donald Tusk already promised in May to clean up Poland”with an iron brush” and return the country to the path of democracy if he wins the election. Now we get a taste of it.
The TV channel of the Polish Broadcasting Corporation went dark
One of the first decisions of the new government was to fire the directors of the public service media companies, who had been selected by the former ruling party PiS.
When the Minister of Culture of the new government appointed a new director for the broadcasting company TVP, a multi-stage series of events followed, which temporarily led to the entire channel to blackout.
According to the recent government, public radio had turned into the party’s mouthpiece during PiS’s rule, and the situation had to be rectified quickly.
However, the reform of Yleisradio has not gone smoothly. Last week, the court decided that the actions of the Minister of Culture were not in accordance with the law. At the same time, the Polish Media Council, which is sympathetic to PiS chose its own manager for the company. Therefore, TVP currently officially has two different directors.
In the end, the Minister of Culture shut down the entire public service media liquidation, which has no deadline. During the settlement period, the board has greater rights to direct TVP’s operations.
According to PiS, the government’s actions threaten the freedom and pluralism of the country’s media. The fact is that under the previous government, Poland collapsed in the world press freedom index from 18th to 57th place, and trust in TVP fell to a record low.
The case reflects well the political handwringing that has been going on for about a month. Some have described the situation as schizophrenic: the country is living two realities at the same time.
It has also been seen in Poland during the last month big supporters of PiS demonstrations.
Prime Minister Tusk himself has commented on the political chaos in his country as follows:
– Did anyone really think that the task before us would be easy or pleasant? No, it’s hard and it’s going to be uncomfortable for a while. This is what you hired me for – I’m not complaining, Tusk wrote instant messaging service in X in January.
Escape to the presidential palace and Poland’s “biggest scandal” of the 21st century
The biggest obstacle to the changes driven by the government is the president Andrzej Duda, whose political background is in PiS. In Poland, the president has a strong position, and the president can use the veto power to block legislative changes proposed by the government.
Duda has already resorted to his right of veto: he overturned the government’s budget proposal for public service media companies. Duda’s term continues for another year and a half, so the big question is how many changes the new government will be able to bring about during Duda’s term.
The scandal that rocked Poland has also culminated in Duda, where two newly elected members of parliament from the PiS party hid from arrest in the Presidential Palace at the beginning of January.
The former interior minister and deputy interior minister sought protection from their old ally Duda when they were convicted of abuse of power. In the end, the prank ended when the police went to pick up the duo from the presidential palace in Duda’s absence.
The speaker of the Polish parliament announced that the men lost their parliamentary seats as a result of the verdicts, but PiS refuses to accept this. Now the men’s empty places have been decorated with signs with their faces, demanding the men’s release. PiS says the men are “Hardly the first political prisoners of the administration”.
On Wednesday, the anti-corruption agency announced the next hard-hitting arrest when the police arrested the former in the scandal of the deputy foreign minister, which Tusk called “probably the biggest scandal in Poland in the 21st century”.
The reason behind the arrest is that Polish consulates around the world arranged visas for thousands of non-EU citizens in exchange for bribes. Polish media last fall according to revelations, up to 250,000 work visas were issued for money.
What is special about this case is that PiS is an openly anti-immigration party, especially towards Muslims. The arrivals were mostly from Asia and Africa.
Young people voted for change
The current government coalition came to power when PiS failed to gather the necessary majority to form a government, even though the party received the most votes in the October elections.
The new government was formed around Donald Tusk’s liberal Citizens Forum party. It is supported by the centre-right party coalition Kolmas tie and the leftist Lewica. The parties were mainly united by the desire to get rid of the former ruling party, and the fight for government will not necessarily be easy. The governing parties are divided on, for example, Poland’s strict abortion legislation.
Although PiS is still the largest party in Poland, the vote in the October elections showed that Poland’s new government has broad public support to seek a new direction for the country.
The turnout increased to 74.4 percent, which is extremely rare in post-Soviet Poland.
Especially young people wanted change – only them fraction support former ruling party.
Studying international relations at the University of Warsaw Matylda Lorin says the future looks brighter now.
– Now there is hope for change. The government makes the right decisions, but it takes time. We are becoming an increasingly integral part of Western Europe.
The government’s biggest challenge now is to succeed in changing Poland without taking refuge to illegal methods themselves and further divide the country.