Polish govt vows to press on with judicial reforms
WARSAW: Poland’s governing conservatives on Monday vowed to press on with judicial reforms, even after the president used his veto following huge street protests and threats of unprecedented EU sanctions.
President Andrzej Duda vetoed two out of three controversial reforms on Monday in a move that surprised observers because he is a close ally of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party that had pushed the legislation.
Prime Minister Beata Szydlo responded that “the president’s veto today slowed down reform work” but insisted that the PiS would not back down until the judicial system saw change.
“We’re open to discussion regarding the details, but these discussions cannot lead to the reform coming to a deadlock,” she said.
“We cannot give in to pressure from the streets and abroad. We have a stable majority. We won’t give in to pressure. We will realise our plan.”
Duda said he had made his decision after consulting legal experts at the weekend, when thousands of people took to the streets across Poland urging him to veto the proposals that critics said threatened the rule of law.
The reforms now return for amendment to parliament, where they require a three-fifths majority – which the PiS does not have – to go through unchanged.
“I have decided to send back to parliament – therefore, to veto – the law on the Supreme Court, as well as the law on the National Council of the Judiciary,” Duda said in a televised announcement.
“This law would not strengthen the sense of justice” in society, he said.
The opposition welcomed his move.
“It’s without a doubt a step in the right direction,” said Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, a lawmaker from the liberal Nowoczesna party.
“It’s proof that pressure from citizens can work.”
Polish freedom icon Lech Walesa, a Nobel Peace laureate and former president, said he “was pleasantly surprised.”
“The people have woken up, young people have woken up. We’ll do what we can so that these people (the conservatives) get off the wrong path or that we manage to replace them,” Walesa said.
The reforms would have increased political control over the judiciary, sparking an outcry among critics who said the PiS party was seeking to reduce the independence of the courts.
We’re open to discussion regarding the details, but these discussions cannot lead to the reform coming to a deadlock. Beata Szydlo, Poland Prime Minister