Debate on Poland in European Parliament gets green light

The debate follows claims by President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz that recent political developments under the new Polish government “have the characteristics of a coup.”

The controversy chiefly hinges on recent appointments to Poland's Constitutional Tribunal, with protests and counter-protests took place in Warsaw and elsewhere over the weekend.

Conservative party Law and Justice, which won the 25 October general election, rushed through an amendment on coming to power that paved the way for it to vote in five new judges to the court.

The former centrist government, led by the Civic Platform party, had voted in five judges through parliament just prior to losing power.

However, in early December, the tribunal ruled that the voting in of two out of five judges prior to the general election was unconstitutional, as their election was premature.

Nevertheless, given that three of the judges were apparenty fairly chosen, Law and Justice's replacement of all five has likewise come under fire for breaking the constitution, prompting thousands of demonstrators to take to the streets last weekend.

The forthcoming debate in Strasbourg has been called for by the Socialist, Liberal and Green groupings within the Europeab Parliament.

The European People's Party, which Civic Platform and and its former coalition partner the Polish People's Party belong to, abstained.

“In our opinion, such a debate is premature for the time being,” commented MEP Jan Olbrycht, head of Civic Platform's delegation at the European Parliament.

Law and Justice MEP Tomasz Poręba has argued that the decision to hold the debate “is madness,” adding that there is no basis for “allegations that democracy in Poland is under threat.” (nh)