Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in his address to the nation at 8:00 p.m. local time this evening, evaluated the events that occurred following the suspension of Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski last night on the grounds that they were preventing the Constitutional Tribunal from performing its duties.
Stating that they witnessed shameful events in front of the Constitutional Tribunal building last night, but that they would not take a step back in the face of lawlessness and violence in order to ensure peace, Prime Minister Tusk said, "The attack on the Constitutional Tribunal and its judges is another stage in the process of destroying the rule of law in Poland by the Law and Justice Party (PiS), former President Andrzej Duda, and current President Karol Nawrocki."
"Our efforts to restore the rule of law have been in vain"
Stating that he had made attempts to fix the Constitutional Tribunal together with the parliamentary majority, and that there was no doubt among international institutions, Polish legal authorities, and the public that the Constitutional Tribunal, as imposed by the main opposition party PiS, was not a real court, Tusk said, "We presented draft resolutions and legislative proposals to all political forces and both presidents that would allow us to restore the rule of law together. However, they all came to nothing; everything was blocked by the president and PiS."
Explaining that for this reason, they calmly waited for the terms of the previous members appointed by PiS to expire in order to elect new judges, that parliament made its selection, and that the judges took their oaths, Tusk noted that in response, current President Nawrocki did not accept these oaths, and that the lawfully elected judges were also prevented from starting their duties by Constitutional Tribunal President Swieczkowski.
"In a state of law, muscle power does not determine who is right"
Tusk said, "A state of law differs from the law of the jungle in this respect: muscle power and rudeness do not determine whether you are right. In a state of law, a judge does not take a step back in the face of an aggressive and burly bully, even if she is a very frail woman. In a state of law, no politician, not even a president, can enter the Constitutional Tribunal and the area belonging to the court to give orders or threaten judges."
The Polish Prime Minister stated that there have been organizations and politicians in the country for years who want to eliminate democracy and the rule of law, and that it is no coincidence that these circles find support among pro-Russian forces in the world. Expressing that his duty as the head of the executive branch is to ensure the security and working conditions of the Constitutional Tribunal, Tusk added that he is determined to fulfill his duty.
News Source: 12punto
