Poles mark centenary of re-established state
Independence Day event draws host of marchers
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s president, prime minister and other top political figures led an Independence Day march Sunday as part of a day of centenary celebrations, trailed by a huge crowd led by nationalist groups.
More than 250,000 people marched in Warsaw to mark the 100th anniversary of Poland’s rebirth as an independent state at the end of World War I, according to police.
President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the leader of the conservative ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, walked in a crowd fronted by soldiers carrying a huge flag with the words “For You, Poland.”
Walking a small distance behind them was another crowd of nationalists and their supporters, many of them burning firecrackers and flares, creating flashes of red light and smoke.
Most in that contingent carried national white-and-red flags, but some held flags of the National Radical Camp, a far-right group and one of the main march organizers. The camp’s flag has a falanga, a farright symbol dating to the 1930s of a stylized hand with a sword.
Among the slogans that participants shouted were “USA, empire of evil” and “Poland, white and Catholic.” Members of one nationalist group, euroskeptic All-polish Youth, burned a European Union flag. An EU flag was also burned at another nationalist rally in Wroclaw. The city’s mayor dissolved the march by nationalists toward its end, during speeches by far-right leaders.
Over the past decade, nationalist organizations have held Independence Day marches in Warsaw on Nov. 11 that have included racist slogans, flares and, in some years, acts of aggression.
Sunday’s was by far the largest Independence Day march to date, and it was mostly peaceful. Government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska called it “the biggest march of free Poles in a free Poland.”
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisenasaidsundaythathedecidedto dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections to avoid possible violence in Parliament in the event a vote was taken to decide on who commands the majority support to become prime minister.
Sirisena in his televised address to the nation said he heard stories from lawmakers on both sides of possible violence in Parliament that could even result in deaths and clashes spreading around the country.
“It appeared to me that, if I allowed the Parliament to be convened on the 14th, without dissolving it, it could have brought about commotion and fights in every city and every village that would lead to very unpleasant and difficult situation for the average citizens of my beloved country,” he said.
“As such, the best solution was not to allow those 225 members in the Parliament to fight each other and allow that to develop into a street fights in every part of the country. It is my duty and the responsibility to … create the situation for the 15 million voters in this country to take the ultimate decision by choosing their members to the Parliament through a free and fair election.”
In a statement, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres, expressed concerns over Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament.
“The secretary-general underlines the utmost importance of respecting democratic processes and institutions and resolving differences in accordance with the rule of law and due process,” he said.
The crisis began Oct. 26 when Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place. Wickremesinghe said his sacking was unconstitutional as he still enjoyed a majority in Parliament and still occupies the official residence.