Poland's controversial new government faces mounting anger

[webfact]

Poland's controversial new government faces mounting anger



"We have a conflict, a clear conflict with the European Commission, but the Polish government is open to dialogue"

WARSAW: -- Just three months on from elections, Poland finds itself in political turmoil.

Demonstrations last Saturday were just the latest in a wave of action since the nationalist, right-wing Law and Justice party took power in November.

Since then, the government’s been making moves to boost its control of the judiciary and media.

Moves that have caused divisions and raised alarm bells in the EU, which is probing whether Warsaw is undermining democratic principles.

Poland’s Prime Minister, Beata Szydło, was recently applauded by eurosceptics in Strasbourg, as she defended the contested changes.

Warsaw is hoping that the European Commission will put its investigation on ice. It could bring sanctions, a suspension of Poland’s voting rights.

“We have a conflict, a clear conflict with the European Commission, but the Polish government is open to dialogue,” said Marek Magierowski, spokesperson for President Andrzej Duda.

“The Polish government wants to discuss all these things, that seem to be controversial, that the European Commission apparently does not understand fully.”

Among the most contested measures introduced by the government is one that has paralysed the constitutional court.

It requires its 15 members to pass most of its rulings with two-thirds of votes rather than the previous simple majority.

“This is an entirely unreasonable way of interpreting the constitution to conclude that the constitution would allow for normal procedural law to completely paralyse this very important organ of constitutional control. Actually the only organ, that has power to control the constitutionality of laws,” said Maciej Kisilowsky, Assistant Professor of Law and Public Management at Central European University.

Anger is also being stoked by a government plan to allow secret services and police fast access to internet and telecommunication data of citizens, without prior approval from a judge.

Critics claim the Law and Justice party is emulating Hungary’s prime minister Victor Orban is trying to impose its political agenda – by undermining democratic freedoms.

Euronews reporter Gabor Kovacs said: “More and more analysts are emphasising that there is a sort of Polish-Hungarian axis in Europe that would like to position itself against Brussels.

“It’s easy to characterise the essence of this – and a recent line from the Polish Foreign Minister might be a good example. He said that Poland doesn’t need the EU kind of multiculturalism that is only represented by cyclists and vegetarians who use renewable energy.”


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-28

[tonbridgebrit]

Poland, get real.

You're either IN the European Union, that means you're the same country as the rest of us.
OR, you can get out, you're not in the European Union, and that will be a catastrophic disaster for YOU. You're far too small to survive as a nation on your own.

[Norvid 1950]

Angela Merkle and EU with their judeocommunistic multicultural approach to diktat all EU according to century old Germany-Soviets common goals is unacceptable for maybe finally free Poland. EU bankrupt polices shows everywhere with Islamist attacking old traditional Europe. Poland wants to preserve its identity, its culture, and finally its religion. Post communists or judeocommunists sold most of Polish business for ten cents on a doollar to the west and put their own people everywhere inc. robbed by them or bankrupted by them institutions, closed profitable Gdansk shipyard, closing now coal mines (Germany are opening new ones), all newspapers, TV, all media are in their hands too. Poland is not a democracy and people own nothing. Even chain of stores are won by the west. New technologies are swindled to the west and some of military value to the country in Palestine land. To change all that and all judeocommunists/leftists corruption, they need to change all to be free and democratic.

[blazes]

“It’s easy to characterise the essence of this – and a recent line from the Polish Foreign Minister might be a good example. He said that Poland doesn’t need the EU kind of multiculturalism that is only represented by cyclists and vegetarians who use renewable energy.”

Brilliant. No country (anywhere, outside the maniac Middle East) needs the kind of multiculturalism that allows one group to set up its own "legal" system (Sharia Law). This [sharia "law"] is slowly making its way towards respectability cos no EU government has the guts to tell them to pack up and go home (to Afghan, Pak, Syria and all the other "stans").

Full marks to the Poles and Hungarians for saying "thus far and no farther."

[Peterphuket]

“It’s easy to characterise the essence of this – and a recent line from the Polish Foreign Minister might be a good example. He said that Poland doesn’t need the EU kind of multiculturalism that is only represented by cyclists and vegetarians who use renewable energy.”

Brilliant. No country (anywhere, outside the maniac Middle East) needs the kind of multiculturalism that allows one group to set up its own "legal" system (Sharia Law). This [sharia "law"] is slowly making its way towards respectability cos no EU government has the guts to tell them to pack up and go home (to Afghan, Pak, Syria and all the other "stans").

Full marks to the Poles and Hungarians for saying "thus far and no farther."

Full marks to the Poles and Hungarians for saying "thus far and no farther."

Exactly, the whole EU, the biggest BS ever, with the intention to make everybody poor!!