Poland’s president turns on his former boss
The ruling Law and Justice Party’s plan to nobble Polish institutions hits a roadblock
ON PAPER, Poland has both a president and a prime minister. In practice, there is a third source of authority: Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the chairman of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), who is widely seen as the country’s real leader. Since coming to power in 2015, PiS has tried to assert greater control over the country’s courts, its public broadcasters and its state-run enterprises. The European Commission accuses it of undermining the rule of law and has threatened it with the suspension of its voting rights. Yet PiS’s most recent problem with its court “reforms” comes not from EU officials or the opposition but from the president, Andrzej Duda.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Duda’s defiance”
Europe October 14th 2017
- The Spanish government calls the Catalans’ bluff
- The 31-year-old who looks set to be Austria’s next chancellor
- Ties between Turkey and America are near breaking point
- France’s centre-right offers no serious opposition to Emmanuel Macron
- Poland’s president turns on his former boss
- Many eastern Europeans feel nostalgia for the communist era
- The EU will not help the Catalan secessionists’ cause
From the October 14th 2017 edition
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The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
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