Poland: Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against PiS government

Warsaw. On Sunday, more than a hundred thousand people in Poland are against the policies of the national conservatives ruling party PiS went out into the street. The participants in the protest march crowded through the center of Warsaw.

Former prime minister and opposition leader donald tusk from the liberal-conservative Civic Platform had called for the protest. But other opposition parties also joined. The organizers spoke of 500,000 participants, the news agency PAP reported 100,000 to 150,000 demonstrators, citing unofficial information from the police.

“No, democracy will not die in Poland. There will be no rest. We’re going to scream loudly,” Tusk said in front of the protesters. The demonstrators, in turn, carried posters with the inscription “Europe, we apologize for the PiS”, “Abracadabra – gone is the PiS macabre” and “PiS in the urinal”. At the demonstration The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former head of the Solidarnosc trade union, Lech Walesa, also took part.

Poland: Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against new law

The date of the demonstration was not chosen arbitrarily – the June 4th is an important date in Poland: the first partially free elections took place on this day in 1989, a triumph of the democracy movement and the Solidarnosc trade union. This triumph also heralded the end of communist rule.

The protest is also directed against a new law that would set up an investigative commission Russian influence provides. Critics accuse the PiS of wanting to use this law to pillory opposition politicians for allegedly being pro-Russian – and that just a few months before the parliamentary elections. The commission is to investigate whether public officials made decisions under Russian influence in the years 2007 to 2022 that endangered Poland’s security.

Polish media speak of a “Lex Tusk” – a law coined on Tusk. The Danziger was the Polish head of government from 2007 to 2014 and is considered the fiercest political opponent of PiSChief Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The PiS government accuses him of having signed unfavorable gas contracts with Russia. (dpa/fmg)

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Sun., 04.06.2023, 7.45 p.m

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