With electing the PiS government for the second time in a row, the hope for ending the crisis in the country ended. Any further delay of the ongoing processes from their further development in a hope that Poland shall return to the center of the political debate on the future of Europe seems futile.
The year 2020 in Poland is going to be very busy, politically. A presidential election, attempts to change party leaders, or a new political group. From the point of view of the state and citizens, a spectacle awaits us all. From the point of view of party leaders, it’s going to be a fight for survival.
One may safely say that Donald Tusk would make the most competent presidential candidate. However, Poles do not vote for statesmen. They are more likely to support the candidates whom they can imagine having a dinner with.
The longer bad blood is circulating in the body, the sicker we get. The same applies to judiciary. The longer we allow politicians to control the courts, to appoint judges, pressure them, the more difficult healing the judiciary will get.
The Law and Justice (PiS) party won the elections in Poland. The opposition is in crisis. Most observers had expected it: The national-conservative government of the party has been clearly confirmed in office.
In July 2019, the Polish Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology published its report regarding transfer of central public administration offices from Warsaw to smaller cities – interchangeably referred to as deglomeration or delocalization – an idea popular in the Law and Justice’s government circles.
The report by the Lex Super Omnia Prosecutors’ Association details the negative consequences of the changes in the prosecutorial service implemented by the Law and Justice government in Poland. It also reveals a number of pathological situations related mainly to personnel policy.
In recent years, the system of disciplinary punishment of judges has also changed. It was made very dependent on the Minister of Justice. It enables disciplinary proceedings against judges and their harassment for disobedience to the authorities and criticism of actions harmful to the rule of law.
“How Do Democracies Win?” was the main theme of this year’s edition of Freedom Games, an annual prestigious forum of ideas organized in Lodz, Poland. Needless to say, the title of the forum is a question uneasy to answer. I would also not dare to provide a straight-forward answer to it.
This year it was Tuesday. A terrible heat wave had been affecting Warsaw for over a week. Temperatures were above 30 degrees and everybody was looking for some shade. Those who could, spent their afternoons in parks, and many people voluntarily stayed overtime in offices to enjoy the AC.
