Poland: row over arrest of PiS politicians hots up
The power struggle between the former and current government camps has come to a head in Poland. President Andrzej Duda has opposed the imprisonment of former interior minister Mariusz Kamiński and his state secretary Maciej Wąsik for abuse of office. Duda continues to insist that his 2015 pardon, which was overturned by the Supreme Court, is legally binding. Prime Minister Tusk has accused the president of sabotage.
Kicking off political persecution
For wPolityce, which is closely affiliated to the PiS, the arrest in the presidential palace crossed a dangerous line:
“It’s unclear how long legal opposition activities and the functioning of media that are independent of the ruling party will be possible. The unlawful abduction of MPs Kamiński and Wąsik from the presidential palace by the police is the prelude to political persecution without parallel in civilised European countries.”
Double matrix
Journalist Łukasz Warzecha discusses the parallel worlds of Polish politics in Rzeczpospolita:
“The state of de facto legal dualism in which we find ourselves is reminiscent of the situation in the film Matrix, only doubled. There is not just one, there are two artificial pseudo-realities. In both, there are people who — with their serious faces and armed with legal texts, legal commentaries, judgements and legal terminology — prove that only their own world is real. Among the inhabitants of each of these universes, there are only a few who want to break out of it and who understand that this is the only path to salvation.”
Concentrate on the real problems
Gość Niedzielny is horrifed:
“On these same days when the Swedish defence minister is warning the public about the real possibility of war, the political conflict in Poland is escalating to such an extent that the country looks like a banana republic. It doesn’t need Russian tanks to bring it down, all it takes is tweets from local politicians. Most of them are adding fuel to the fire by levelling accusations at each other, be it that the police have illegally entered the presidential residence or that the president has committed the crime of hiding wanted persons.”
