The talks follow a series of demonstrations in cities and towns across Poland, as well as a recommendation from the Venice Commission, a human rights arm of the Council of Europe, that both the government and the opposition “should do their utmost to find a solution,” with the country's Constitutional Tribunal currently in a deadlock.
“It was a conversation and not war,” said Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), following Thursday's meeting.
“Of course there are differences in opinion, but in matters related to Polish national interests, we agreed that these interests should not be violated in any way.”
Kaczyński had announced on 24 March that he would ask the Speaker of the lower house of parliament to call the cross-party meeting.
Ryszard Petru, head of centrist party Nowoczesna, said following Thursday's talks that “Law and Justice has shown openness to dropping certain aspects of the bill which was adopted in December.
“It is important that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it is important that we work together to find a solution to this situation,” he added.
“We will see what further action PiS takes.”
However, Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of the Civic Platform party, stressed that “nothing was agreed, and the parties maintained their [previous] standpoints.”
Paweł Kukiz, leader of the Kukiz '15 party said that the meeting was calm but that he does believe that a solution can be found without a change to the constitution.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz of the Polish People's Party stressed that the talks were “introductory”, noting that several other topics were broached, including the papal visit this July.
Three parties that did not win enough votes to enter parliament in October's general election also took part: the Together Party, the Democratic Left Alliance and KORWiN.
Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk of the Together Party said that there was an element of farce about the talks, and she questioned Law and Justice's desire to resolve the situation.
Constitutional deadlock
Legislation reforming the Constitutional Tribunal was passed in parliament in December, but the court ruled in early March that the changes would prevent it from operating “reliably and efficiently.”
Both the government and the court have accused each other of being “unconstitutional.”
One of the government-backed amendments required 13 out of 15 of the court's judges to be present in rulings, rather than the nine needed previously.
Only 12 judges participated in the recent session, prompting the Law and Justice government to insist that the ruling is not valid.
The reforms followed a row over the appointment of judges.
The Civic Platform party, which led an eight-year coalition with the Polish People's Party before losing the 25 October general election, used its majority to vote in five new judges in the lead-up to the election.
The court later ruled that two of these had been voted in prematurely.
However, the court then rejected Law and Justice's bid to cancel out all five of the recent appointees with its own choices, ruling that three appointments were unconstitutional.
Law and Justice has argued that its five appointees should remain in the court. (nh/pk)