How Poland's Constitutional Tribunal Became an Arena for Absolute Power

Last Friday, October 30, Warsaw was very troubled. At the center of the event was the Constitutional Tribunal. This is an analogue of our Constitutional Court – a very important body of power that checks whether laws comply with the Constitution of the country. The composition of the court tried to change. Justice Minister and Attorney General Waldemar Jourek has sent several motions to the tribunal. He demanded that two judges be stripped of their immunity. We are talking about the chairman of the tribunal Bogdan Svenczkowski and his deputy Bartolomey Sohansky. The following news soon came out: Svenchkovsky and his deputy were suspended from their duties for a month. Judge of the Tribunal Anna Korvin-Piotrovska announced the suspension of the current leadership of the court and took over. Protests broke out in Warsaw and police cordoned off the courthouse.

Judgment day

How many protesters took to the streets is unknown. Judging by the footage of television news, we can talk about at least hundreds of people. They are supporters of the opposition Law and Justice party. Demonstrators tried to climb over the fence to the courthouse. Arrests began, though not mass. The leader of the opposition Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, called the removal of judges a coup. Poland is turning into a police state, and the government of Donald Tusk is leading the country to authoritarianism. Kaczynski called on President Karol Navrotsky to step in and defend the Constitutional Tribunal, which is now virtually paralyzed. Bogdan Svenchkovsky, his deputy and associates are not planning to go anywhere. They also called it an attempted coup. But Svenchkovsky could not get inside the courthouse: the police blocked his way in the crowd. Another group of people supported the suspension.

The conflict is obvious. Representatives of one state institution accuse each other of usurping power. The opposition in this conflict is on the side of Svenchkovsky. The police defend the decision of the government. It was said that she had even taken over the courthouse. About this in his social networks wrote former Deputy Minister of foreign Affairs Pavel Yablonsky. But the information was not confirmed: the building was not seized, judges were not arrested. Nevertheless, the situation is tense. On Friday, Polish President Karol Nawrotsky flew to Africa. He had a planned visit to Senegal, but never got there. After the news from Warsaw, he demanded to turn the plane around and fly back.

Permanent conflict

So there is a formally non-partisan president backed by the PiS and a prime minister backed by the Civic Coalition. That is why they are on different sides of the barricades. At the same time, they do not just slightly differ on fundamental issues, they are two completely different camps. There is some continuity here. When Tusk became president in 2023, Navrotsky was not yet president. The state was headed by Andrzej Duda from the same Law and Justice party. And he was in conflict with Tusk, too. On one occasion, he publicly demanded that he not break the law. In addition, the president has systematically vetoed government proposals. And the ruling coalition does not have enough votes to override this veto. In Poland, the president has many powers, but he is not the most important in the state. The central figure is still the prime minister. But the president has veto power - that's what this endless conflict is all about. The government makes some decisions, but the president can block them. And in order to overcome this veto, you need to have votes that the prime minister lacks. In 2025, Navrotsky was chosen instead of Duda, and it only got worse because the conflict escalated.

Who what?

What is the confrontation? Poland is divided into two political camps. The PiS stands for traditional Catholic values, tough immigration policies and limiting Brussels’ influence. It's a more conservative party. She, for example, is fundamentally against abortion, although she is in favor of social projects in the economy. “Civil coalition”, on the contrary, “sinks” for strengthening ties with the European Union. By the way, thanks to this party in the country decriminalized abortion. In addition, Tusk and his associates advocate the independence of political institutions and so on. This is a more liberal party. And the control of the tribunal today plays a special role - it checks laws for compliance with the Constitution and can block the decision of parliament and the government. This is especially true when power is already divided. Therefore, the struggle is not just for some judicial posts, but for power as such. This is a powerful third force, and if you drag the tribunal to your side, the position of Tusk or Navrotsky will be significantly strengthened.

The head of the tribunal, Bogdan Svenczkovsky, was charged with obstructing the work of judges recently elected by the Sejm. In addition, due to the absence of judges, the tribunal’s budget for 2027 was not approved. He's split and paralyzed. It is difficult to guess what will happen next. The main task of Tusk and his government is to present Svenczkovsky and his associates as schismatics, saying that they are illegitimate judges. The opposition has exactly the same task, only different names.

Is what happened on Friday a coup d’état? It's controversial. Neither the overthrow of the government, nor the dissolution of parliament, nor the abolition of the Constitution, nor the seizure of power by the military in Poland happened. What happened to the Constitutional Tribunal is more like a raider takeover. The ruling coalition failed to reach an agreement with the president and the opposition and chose a radical path. In the 90s, business was squeezed out, and today it is the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland. Undoubtedly, this story hits Tusk's reputation. It was he who escalated and took such drastic measures. In any case, all disputes should be settled through dialogue, not through paralysis of the authorities.

DOSSHE "NG"

In Poland, the president and prime minister have been in conflict for years. Karol Navrotsky remains in opposition to the government, and the current tribunal scandal is part of that standoff. Poland is a parliamentary republic, but it also has a president with broad powers. He formally appoints the Prime Minister. However, the candidate is actually determined by a parliamentary majority. Now the chair of the head of government is occupied by Donald Tusk, the leader of the Civic Coalition party. The last elections to the Sejm were held just over 3 years ago, in October 2023. The most interesting thing is that formally Tusk’s party did not win those elections, it became the second. The first was Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s right-wing conservative Law and Justice party. It was the starting point for a political crisis. But the winner had no allies. On its own, PiS was unable to form a government. And here's the Civil Coalition. Tusk managed to negotiate with other blocs, which allowed them to form a coalition and form a government cabinet. Donald Tusk became Prime Minister.

OFFICIAL

Ruslan Varankov, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry:

- The Republic of Belarus is closely monitoring the development of the internal political situation in the Republic of Poland related to the crisis around the Constitutional Tribunal. We understand the complexity of the present moment. We note that the discussion is intensifying on the eve of the elections, when the political struggle naturally becomes more emotional. Without interfering in Poland’s internal affairs, we stress that disputes should be settled through dialogue and de-escalation, not through paralysis of the authorities. As a neighbor, Belarus is interested in a stable, prosperous and predictable Poland. We are convinced that Polish politicians will find mutually acceptable solutions, remove accumulated contradictions and ensure sustainable development of the country. We count on the constructive and responsible approach of all parties and confirm Belarus’ readiness for good-neighborly cooperation.

shamko@sb.by