The political situation in Poland

October 2015. Before the elections, the Civic Platform made the Constitutional Court one of its main targets in order to maintain at least a little bit of power in a Poland reformed by PiS, hoping that the appointment of the five judges would be done without much disturbance. However, this party had the right to nominate only three of them and the next two were supposed to be chosen by the new Parliament (the Parliament after the elections). Thus, the Civic Platform, fearing to lose the elections and knowing that the influence of the Constitutional Court was worth it, prepared a new law allowing the party to change the judges’ team. Nonetheless, when describing the conflict in the Constitutional Court, most journalists and public figures tend to focus on the fact that the PiS majority chose the judges that they did not have the right to choose. The second point creating controversy in the public opinion is obviously the short amount of time given to choose the judges, so that deputies did not have enough time to give their opinion on the candidates. Though, the most important fact is that these persons are chosen by a PiS Parliament. It is quite possible to experience problems. To give an example, the lack of agreement on the verdicts of the judges due to the politicization of public people questions the sovereignty of public opinion. However, it should be emphasized that the possibility of choosing the judges of the Constitutional Court residing in the skills of the Lower House translates into the fact that the parliamentary majority has some influence on the resolutions and decisions of the Constitutional Court. And this 'pressure force' is not an over-exploitation of skills but a legitimate use, because the judges of the Constitutional Court, since the acceptance of the Polish Constitution in 1992, are chosen by MPs acting according to their political goals.

The actors of the conflict put to the test of the Venice Commission’s decision

The conflict around the Constitutional Court envolves two major political forces in Poland that both created a vicious circle in this Central European country, also involving the European scene. This conflict has prompted other parties to rethink the crisis; and that is why, for instance, the Kukiz 15' opposition party wants to create a compromise between these two camps. This is also the decision of the Venice Commission. This recommendation seems to go against the will of a daily newspaper, "Gazeta Wyborcza", which counted on the support of its arguments by an overwhelming democracy and an arriving dictatorship. The Venice Commission’s decision does not find that the conflict crippling the Constitutional Court was created by this power-hungry dictator named Kaczynski. It considers the current and precedent powers, who started this political quarrel, to be at fault. In addition, the Commission does not claim the obligation to enforce the Court’s judgement and accept the appointment of three judges of the other parliamentary cadence, but rather encourages the finding of a compromise. This compromise also seems to be sought after by the Polish society. However it turns out that the Civic Platform, Nowoczesna nor the KOD intend to seek a compromise and find reconciliation. Because the essential factor of their popularity is this “anti PiS” discourse, “at any cost”. Of course the fault is on both sides. The PiS, instead of sticking to its d”e- communisation”, “re--polonisation”” and liberalisation of Poland from the former discourse "Targowica" should acknowledge its mistakes, redo its policy and not lead the Polish people towards a break and a no-win situation.

An excessive emotional vocabulary in the commentaries of the current situation in Poland

What also seems to play in the current conflict is the vocabulary used by the opposition. We are witnessing an exaggeration of expressions, such as "the dictatorship of Kaczynski", '’the collapse of democracy’', or 'the lack of freedom of expression'. Public opinion and public debate were not exemplary either, but the impressive crisis lately seems to exceed limits. This exaggeration of the notions of the opposition, which seems to be increasingly far from power, is trying to stand in the 'force of influence'. Even before the election of the current President, Andrzej Duda, the opposition and its supporters played on emotions and increased protests. Expressions calling Duda "a puppet of Kaczynski", 'a man from nowhere' or 'a crazy Christian wanting to establish theocracy' were fairly frequent. When Andrzej Duda won the elections, public opinion related to the establishment of PO badly welcomed the power of Duda. This dissatisfaction worsened after the victory of the PiS. After its victory, the remote power elite decided to depreciate their position in the sample of at least Liberal supporters. Because even if the PO could not maintain his power and avoid the PiS party reforms, it wanted to at least delegitimize their position and their power in society, by naming them "disciples of PO" or better: "the adversaries of PiS”. Thus, the problem of the current political scene is a struggle between the "progressive" poles, named with contempt by the "conservatives" as lemmings and on the other side the "obscurantist followers of PiS', 'the followers of father Rydzyk." However, this hyperinflation of the terms does not have a positive influence not only on the domestic situation but also on the vision of Poland on the international scene.

A reconciliation or a deeper break within the Polish society?

Finally, we have to think about the causes of this rise of the right-wing, not only in Poland but in Europe in general, to analyze the situation with a cold blood and rethink values on which politicians, philosophers and civils based their European society.  For the right-wing, the lack of a conservative voice and the lack of political pluralism in the European Union are the main problem. A liberal speech praising Europe today seems to uproot the opposition in politics. In Poland, this split between the right and the liberal camps is increasing tensions between PiS and PO followers. That is why it is essential for the Polish people to rethink their situation and move towards rationality. The Polish were able to fight for their freedom for 123 years since 1772, they were able to deal with the German occupying forces during the Second World War and to break free of Soviet domination in 1989. However, current events seem to show that they do not take advantage of this freedom, and that the creation of a coherent community is only possible in front of a common enemy. This rupture in society is also caused by the ideological differences of the Polish nation. Although these differences exist, the media try to amplify them and prevent both sides to reconcile. Because contrasts in politics make politics - but the current problem of Poland is above all the lack of meetings and contact between the two opposing camps.