Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk released a video address in which he blamed President Karol Nawrocki and his predecessor Andrzej Duda for the "destruction of the rule of law" in the country, infohub.kz reports.
The prime minister's address was published late the previous evening and focused on the crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal. It came a day after tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced the temporary suspension of the body's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański. Tusk's government believes both are sabotaging the adoption of necessary decisions. Another reason for the suspensions was Nawrocki's de facto refusal to swear in new judges elected by the Sejm (Poland's parliament).
In his address, Tusk said among other things that the tribunal, in the form created by the PiS party, "was not a real court." The prime minister accused Nawrocki and his predecessor as president, Andrzej Duda, of "destroying the rule of law" in the country.
"We offered all political forces and both presidents resolutions and laws that would allow us to restore the rule of law together. It was all in vain, it was all blocked by the president and the PiS party," Tusk said.
Before the tribunal's leaders were suspended, the prime minister said, judges elected by the Sejm "were blocked by President Święczkowski and were unable to take up their work."
Commenting on Nawrocki's arrival at the Constitutional Court building, which was cordoned off by police, in the early hours of October 31, Tusk also noted that "in a state governed by law, a politician cannot enter the territory of a court, issue orders and intimidate judges, even if he is the president."
The prime minister stressed that his duty now is to ensure the safe operation of the tribunal in accordance with the Constitution. "On some issues there can be no compromises. Shouts and lies cannot be a source of law in Poland. And they will not be," he added.
It emerged the day before that Poland had reported an attempted coup. A crowd tried to storm the Constitutional Court building in Warsaw. Polish President Karol Nawrocki later said that a forcible seizure of the Constitutional Tribunal — one of the country's highest judicial bodies — had taken place in Warsaw that night.