The current opposition – should it come to power – would dismiss the judges of the Constitutional Tribunal that it says were nominated illegally, a first step in revoking the current PiS government’s judicial reforms that caused a conflict with the EU Commission, as reported by Polish media.
The ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) party reformed almost the whole judiciary system, including the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal, during its eight years in power. The legal changes faced opposition from both the Commission and the EU Court of Justice, which ruled they undermined judicial independence in Poland.
The recent electoral success paves the way for the democratic opposition to repeal the reforms that exacerbated Poland’s relations with Brussels. If the current opposition forms a government, its first step would be to remove three judges from the Constitutional Tribunal, which it says were nominated illegally, Wirtualna Polska reported.
The general elections held on 15 October saw the three biggest opposition blocs together winning enough votes to secure a parliamentary majority, as opposed to PiS, despite its formally winning the elections.
The three alliances, the Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) led by Donald Tusk, the centrist Third Way (Renew/EPP), and the Left (S&D) have already declared their will to create a coalition government. Now the initiative lies with President Andrzej Duda, who is supposed to appoint the new prime minister.
Duda called all the parties for consultations on forming a new government, which will start this week. Under the constitution, the head of state is obliged to appoint the prime minister within 14 days of the first sitting of the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, which is expected to take place in mid-November.
The changes would be adopted by a parliament’s resolution after the new parliament is installed, a prominent KO politician told Wirtualna Polska. By a majority voting, the Sejm would claim the nomination of judges in question illegal, which is confirmed by numerous lawyers.
The controversial judicial changes were the main reason why the Commission decided to freeze the money allocated for Poland under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The future government has a chance for the funds to be unblocked, but it will require concrete reforms, Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said last week.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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