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On Tuesday, Polish police arrested two parliamentarians from the far-right Law and Justice party, former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski and former deputy minister Maciej Wasik: they were convicted last month of abuse of office in connection with events that occurred in 2007, when Kaminski led Poland’s anti-corruption agency and Wasik was his deputy. The notable thing is that the arrest took place inside the presidential palace, where the two politicians had taken refuge invited by President Andrzej Duda, also from Law and Justice, to escape the precautionary custody order that had been issued the same day by a court in the country.
For several months, Duda has been at the center of a very tough political clash with the new government of Donald Tusk (Civic Platform, centrist), which was formed after the October elections. Since then Duda has been trying in every way to hinder the new political course, even going so far as to questionably use his powers to defend his party colleagues from ongoing judicial investigations.
Duda had already intervened in the past in the case of Kaminski and Wasik, convicted of attempting to demonstrate with false evidence that the then Minister of Agriculture, Andrzej Lepper, had accepted bribes. Duda had pardoned them for those actions, even before the sentence was pronounced. The problem is that in June 2023 the Polish Supreme Court ruled that presidential pardons could only apply to convictions with a final sentence.
Mariusz Kaminski (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
These questionable behaviors beyond his powers are not new for Duda, who throughout his mandate as president of Poland had been, more than an independent actor, an active figure promoting Law and Justice policies. Duda’s intervention to protect the two parliamentarians was also criticized by Prime Minister Tusk, who accused him of wanting to “obstruct justice”, citing an article of law for which Duda could be indicted.
Tusk is facing a complicated situation, given that in his many years of rule Law and Justice had strengthened its influence on the institutions, transforming Poland into an increasingly less democratic country. For example, the Constitutional Court, which can veto laws approved by parliament, is currently controlled by judges close to Law and Justice.
The institutional clash in Poland had already been seen during the formation of Tusk’s government. In fact, Duda had initially appointed former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki to be responsible for Law and Justice, despite the fact that the party could not count on a majority in parliament and had effectively emerged defeated in the October elections.
Now the conflict is continuing especially over media control. Tusk fired the management of public television, which was linked to Law and Justice, and closed some networks. Duda blocked the budget law that would finance television and other public media outlets and announced his intention to present an alternative budget law. In general he is showing that he wants to use all his powers to block the government’s action: his mandate will expire in mid-2025, coexistence for 18 months is expected to be more complex than initially expected.
Meanwhile, the new president of parliament Szymon Hołownia has temporarily suspended the sessions of the chamber, which were supposed to begin on Wednesday, until next week, saying that “the serious constitutional crisis would not guarantee a peaceful conduct of parliamentary work”.