A massive anti-government march took place in Poland’s capital on Sunday, with citizens traveling from across the country to express their anger at a right-wing administration that undermines democratic values and creates fears that the country follows Hungary and Turkey on the path of autocracy. .
Warsaw’s local government estimated that 500,000 people joined the march, which was led by the opposition party to which the city’s mayor, Rafal Trzaskowski, belongs. It is not possible to verify that number.
Scores of people gathered in Krakow and other cities across the country of 38 million, showing frustration with a government that critics accuse of violating the constitution and undermining fundamental rights in Poland, a country that has long already recognized as a model of peaceful and democratic change.
Former President Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity movement that had a historic role in the overthrow of communism in Poland, stood on a stage with the leader of the opposition Civic Platform party, former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The crowd cheered the two men, both of whom are mocked by the ruling Law and Justice party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and sometimes chanted “Democracy!” and “Constitution!”
Tusk called on Poles to march with him for the country’s future – a message that resonated for Radek Tusinski, 49, who rallied with his wife and two young children. A handmade sign that read “I can’t give up freedom” was attached to their baby stroller.
Tuskinski said he worries about the creeping return of an authoritarian system similar to the one he remembers from his childhood.
“We want a free country for our children,” he said.
Supporters of the march warned that the election could be the country’s last chance to halt the erosion of democracy under the ruling Law and Justice party, amid growing fears that the fall election could be unfair.
In power since 2015, Law and Justice has found a popular formula, combining higher social spending with socially conservative policies and support for the church in the predominantly Catholic country.
However, critics have warned over the years that the party is reversing many of its achievements since Poland emerged from communist rule in 1989.
Even the United States government intervened at times when it felt that the government was undermining press freedom and academic freedom in the area of Holocaust research.
Critics mainly point to the party’s gradual takeover of the judiciary and media. It uses state media for heavy propaganda to discredit opponents. Law and Justice also used anger against minorities, particularly LGBTQ+ people, whose struggle for rights was described by the party as a threat to families and national identity. A clampdown on abortion rights has sparked mass protests.
Critics fear the party could eventually force the country to leave the European Union, a 27-member union founded on democratic values.
March participants carried EU and Polish flags, with some also holding rainbow flags.
Others also expressed anger at the country’s double-digit inflation. The government blames Russia’s war on Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, but economists say its spending policies are fueling rising prices.
Barbara Dec, 26, and her grandmother left their hometown of Zielona Gora at 4:30 in the morning and traveled seven hours on a bus organized by the Civic Platform to protest. They planned to return home immediately after the event in Warsaw.
December posted a cardboard sign that read, “I’m afraid to have children in Poland.”
“Women lost the right to have an abortion even if the fetus was seriously ill, and some women died,” he explained. “And I’m also afraid that I won’t manage financially.”
Press freedom alarm
The march was held on the 34th anniversary of the first-ever free elections, a democratic breakthrough in the overthrow of communism across Eastern Europe. It is seen as a test for Tusk’s Civic Platform, a centrist and pro-European party that follows Law and Justice in the polls.
However, the passing of a controversial law last month appeared to mobilize more support for Tusk. Poland is expected to hold a general election in October, although the date has not yet been set.
The law allows for the creation of a commission to investigate Russian influence in Poland. Critics argue that the commission has unconstitutional powers, including the capacity to exclude officials from public life for a decade. They fear that the ruling party will use it to remove Tusk and other opponents from public life.
Amid turmoil in Poland and criticism from the US and EU, President Andrzej Duda, who signed the law on May 29, proposed changes to it on Friday. In the meantime, the law will go into effect with no guarantee that lawmakers in parliament will weaken the commission’s power.
Some Poles say it could be similar to the investigations of Joseph McCarthy, the US senator whose anti-communist campaign in the early 1950s led to hysteria and political persecution.
That fear was highlighted at the weekend when Kaczynski, the ruling party leader, was asked by a reporter if he still had confidence in the defense minister over a Russian missile that fell on Poland in December.
“I am forced … to see you as a representative of the Kremlin,” he replied. “Because only the Kremlin wants this man to stop being minister of national defense.”
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders expressed concerns that the commission could be used to “launch a witch-hunt against journalists” and “could serve as a new weapon for this kind of persecution.” attack, where doubt is cast on the probity of journalists by someone who tries to discredit them.”
Tusk, who is also president of the EU council, called for the march weeks ago, urging people to demonstrate “against high prices, theft and lies, for free elections and a democratic , European Poland.”
At first some opposition figures planned to stay away. But after Duda signed the law, other opposition leaders announced that they would participate.
Law and Justice sought to discourage participation in the march with a video spot using Auschwitz as a theme – drawing criticism from the state museum that preserves the site of the Nazi German death camp.
(AP)