Poland’s biggest opposition group plans to bring thousands of supporters to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday to protest against what it sees as the government’s efforts to restrict democracy and distance the European Union member from Brussels.
Buoyed by growing popularity, the opposition Civic Platform is seeking to present itself as a viable alternative to the Law & Justice party’s 18-month-old government, which has been accused by EU leaders of “persistently” undermining rule of law.
Officials in the 28-member trading bloc have repeatedly censured Law & Justice for backsliding on democratic standards.
The government rejected the bloc’s recommendations to reverse its curbs on the Constitutional Court’s powers.
It also took direct control of the public media and drafted laws giving politicians more control over the judiciary in general.
Civic Platform leader Grzegorz Schetyna said these moves risk eroding freedoms and pushing Poland toward authoritarian rule.
“We want to show how important freedom is and how much we want to live in a free country,” Schetyna said on Friday.
“We’re counting on a big turnout.
” Prime Minister Beata Szydo’s cabinet has increasingly clashed with her counterparts in the EU as she pledges to pursue national interests, return Poland to its traditional Catholic roots and to pull the country away from the “European mainstream.
” Public Debt Schetyna has accused her of plotting to exit the EU, seeking to use Poles’ overwhelming support for membership in the bloc as a rallying cry against her government.
Recent surveys suggest he’s gaining traction against a cabinet that has rolled out unprecedented social spending at the cost of bulging public debt and a credit downgrade from S&P Global Ratings.
For the first time since it won elections in 2015, backing for Law & Justice dropped below that of the Civic Platform last month, according to a Kantar Millward Brown opinion poll.
The April 24-25 survey of 1,001 adults showed the ruling party slipping to 29 percent, compared with 31 percent for the opposition group.
The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent.
Buoyed by growing popularity, the opposition Civic Platform is seeking to present itself as a viable alternative to the Law & Justice party’s 18-month-old government, which has been accused by EU leaders of “persistently” undermining rule of law.
Officials in the 28-member trading bloc have repeatedly censured Law & Justice for backsliding on democratic standards.
The government rejected the bloc’s recommendations to reverse its curbs on the Constitutional Court’s powers.
It also took direct control of the public media and drafted laws giving politicians more control over the judiciary in general.
Civic Platform leader Grzegorz Schetyna said these moves risk eroding freedoms and pushing Poland toward authoritarian rule.
“We want to show how important freedom is and how much we want to live in a free country,” Schetyna said on Friday.
“We’re counting on a big turnout.
” Prime Minister Beata Szydo’s cabinet has increasingly clashed with her counterparts in the EU as she pledges to pursue national interests, return Poland to its traditional Catholic roots and to pull the country away from the “European mainstream.
” Public Debt Schetyna has accused her of plotting to exit the EU, seeking to use Poles’ overwhelming support for membership in the bloc as a rallying cry against her government.
Recent surveys suggest he’s gaining traction against a cabinet that has rolled out unprecedented social spending at the cost of bulging public debt and a credit downgrade from S&P Global Ratings.
For the first time since it won elections in 2015, backing for Law & Justice dropped below that of the Civic Platform last month, according to a Kantar Millward Brown opinion poll.
The April 24-25 survey of 1,001 adults showed the ruling party slipping to 29 percent, compared with 31 percent for the opposition group.
The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent.
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