Poland’s political standoff over its highest court spilled into a new crisis on Wednesday, prompting President Karol Nawrocki to abruptly reverse course mid-journey and fly back home as police entered the Constitutional Tribunal and its president was suspended.
“At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” he said on X.
Police said officers went onto the tribunal’s premises following incidents outside the court, including the throwing of dangerous objects at police.
The tribunal said on its website that the court’s president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, had been suspended.
The Constitutional Tribunal has been effectively paralysed by a long-running political dispute that has left the institution at the center of Poland’s struggle over the balance of power and judicial authority.
Earlier this year, Mr Nawrocki — an ally of Poland’s former nationalist government led by the Law and Justice, or PiS, party — refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament. At the same time, Mr Swieczkowski, a former deputy justice minister under PiS, declined to allow judges elected by the current parliamentary majority to take up their duties.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk later framed the latest developments as part of a broader effort to rebuild legal norms, writing on X that restoring the rule of law is the government’s duty.
“After years of lawlessness under PiS, this process is difficult, at times even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” he said.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek told reporters he has asked for the lifting of the immunities of Mr Swieczkowski and his deputy, accusing them of failing to fulfill their duties by blocking judges from carrying out their work.
PiS politicians, including party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said Mr Tusk’s government was carrying out a coup on the tribunal.
