Easter Sunday rally outside Polish PM’s Office
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
27.03.2016 19:51
Several dozen supporters of an anti-government group staged a rally on Easter Sunday in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, urging the government to respect a ruling by the country's Constitutional Tribunal.
Easter Sunday rally in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
The rally, organised by the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD), was smaller and more subdued in tone than other protests staged recently by the group.
KOD leader Mateusz Kijowski said: “We are [here] in a friendly, Easter atmosphere, we are meeting as lovers of democracy, as defenders of our freedom.”
Kijowski said that on April 1 a delegation from his group would visit the United States. He added: "We will meet representatives of the administration, representatives of the Senate, with academics, all at the invitation of Freedom House,” an NGO that conducts research and advocacy on democracy and political freedom.
Sunday’s rally was attended by Ryszard Petru, leader of the opposition Nowoczesna party.
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on March 9 rejected a series of controversial changes to the way it functions introduced by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Critics say the changes were designed to paralyse the Tribunal, amid PiS fears that the court would block key reforms pledged by Law and Justice in the run-up to its landslide election victory in October.
The court's ruling is only binding if officially published by Prime Minister Beata Szydło, which she has refused to do, claiming its decision is invalid.
Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński has said that the decision of the court, which was made by 12 judges rather than the 13 specified in Law and Justice's amendments, is “the private standpoint of a group of certain people”. (pk/di)
Source: PAP