Polish opposition leader Kaczynski calls for “demonstration in defence of democracy”

Jan 4, 2024 | Defence, Law, Politics

Polish opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński, head of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that was removed from power last month, has called on Poles to join a protest next week against the actions of the new government.

“On 11 January, a demonstration will be held in Warsaw in defence of freedom of speech, freedom of the media and simply in defence of democracy, because we have a real problem with democracy today,” said Kaczyński on Wednesday.

The demonstration – titled “Protest of Free Poles” – will take place outside parliament, where PiS lost its majority in October’s elections before being replaced by a new government, led by Donald Tusk, in mid-December.

Kaczyński claimed yesterday that the new administration aims to “fulfil the expectations of the EU”, including implementing Brussels’ planned new migration pact. They want to “reduce our country to an area inhabited by Poles and ruled from the outside”, declared Kaczyński.

PiS has in particular opposed the new government’s takeover of public media outlets last month, which it argues was carried out in violation of the law and has resulted in restrictions on media freedom and pluralism.

However, the new government insists that its actions were both legal and necessary, because it needed to de-politicise public media outlets that PiS had turned into propaganda outlets during its eight years in power, in violation of their statutory obligation to be neutral.

It also notes that PiS was repeatedly found to have violated the rule of law when in power, during which time Poland plummeted in international rankings of democracy and media freedom.

Speaking yesterday, Kaczyński said that claims democracy was under threat when his party was in power “were completely invented”. He also said that “most of the media was against the [PiS] government”.

During his press conference, the PiS leader clashed with journalists after one of them asked if his party was being hypocritical, having allowed public media to become a “propaganda mouthpiece” under its rule but now claiming to defend their independence.

Kaczyński called such claims “untrue” and then accused some of the journalists present of being “paid to defend what is happening [now] in Poland”. He then ended the press conference.

Speaking separately yesterday, Tusk again defended his government’s takeover of public media, saying they would “not take a single step back”. He claimed that PiS is only now defending public media outlets because it used them for political benefit and to pay large salaries to friendly journalists.

The prime minister admitted that undoing the “complete devastation of the legal order in Poland” implemented by PiS would sometimes raise doubts.

“When we try to solve these things, you all wonder whether it is really perfectly legal,” said Tusk. “But we all also know that the law they established is unconstitutional…We will make decisions knowing that not everyone will like them.”

In response to Kaczyński’s remarks, an MP from Tusk’s coalition, Monika Falej, claimed that the PiS leader is “building a false narrative” and asked whether on 11 January he would “call on people to storm the Polish Capitol”, a reference to the actions of Donald Trump’s supporters on 6 January 2021.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: pisorgpl/X

Pin It on Pinterest

Support us!