“We are not hiding. Right now we are with the President of Poland until evil loses”, said former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski. He left open how long he and his party colleague, former Secretary of State Maciej Wasik, planned to remain in the presidential palace. Wasik called on PiS supporters to come to Warsaw for a demonstration against Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government, planned for Thursday.
What appears to be a farce is in fact the escalation of a conflict between the new and old government camps in Poland, which could lead Poland to a national crisis. The struggle for power between the incumbent government and the elected PiS, from whose camp President Duda also comes, has intensified. Tusk threatened Duda and PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski that they would be held responsible for “sabotaging the constitution”.
Duda fights against court decision
The case of the two convicted PiS politicians has a long history. In 2015, shortly after PiS came to power, Duda pardoned Kaminski and Wasik in a controversial decision. Both had already been sentenced in the first instance to three years in prison for abuse of power.
The reason for the conviction was a case discovered in 2007, in which the anti-corruption agency, then headed by Kaminski, had deliberately orchestrated a corruption case to discredit the then Minister of Agriculture, Andrzej Lepper. Kaminski and Wasik appealed the verdict.
In June, the Supreme Court annulled the presidential pardons of Kaminski and Wasik. According to the verdict, only those who were legally convicted can be pardoned. Both had to face trial again. At the end of December, the Warsaw District Court sentenced her to two years in prison. The court also ordered that both could not hold public office for five years and would lose their parliamentary mandate.
“You have to stop this show”
Duda has emphasized several times in recent days that, in his opinion, the pardon continues to apply – Poland's leading constitutional lawyers see it differently. Both politicians announced that they wanted to continue fulfilling their mandate as representatives and attend parliamentary sessions.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Tusk sent clear words to Duda: “Mr President, my fervent appeal for the good of the Polish State: you must put an end to this spectacle. This will lead us to a very dangerous situation.” The actions targeted the foundations of the State.
Regarding the president's behavior, Tusk also cited the Polish criminal code: “Any person who obstructs or frustrates criminal proceedings by helping a criminal to evade criminal responsibility (…) will be punished with a prison sentence of three months to five years. ” However, Tusk clearly ruled out a violent arrest of Kaminski and Wasik in the presidential palace.