Poland: Hundreds of thousands protest against government

The Polish opposition's call for protest against the PIS government has responded to several hundred thousand people. It is a bill that could have massive effects on the upcoming parliamentary elections in the autumn.

Hundreds of thousands have protested in Warsaw against the national-conservative government's policy, PIS. Organisers have been talking about the biggest protest since the fall of communism in 1989. A spokesman for the demonstration organisation was talking about half a million people in protest. The online Onet portal referred to 300,000 protesters at the peak of the anti-government march.

In close lines, protesters went to downtown Warsaw carrying plaques with the inscription “Europe, and we apologize for the PIS”, etc. The peace novelist and former union leader Solidarnosc Lech Walesa also attended the protests.

Remembering the Movement for Democracy in 1989

For the protest, the government's former head and opposition leader Donald Tusk of the Liberal-Conservative Civic Platform called for. But other opposition parties joined the call. June 4th is an important day in Poland. In 1989, part-time free elections took place for the first time, a triumph of the democratic movement and the Solidarnosc union, which at the same time marked the end of the communist regime. “We are here today, so that all Poland, the whole of Europe, the whole world will see, how strong we are, how many of us are willing to fight for freedom and democracy like 40 years ago”, Tusk said before demonstrators.

Resistance against “

The protest is also directed against a new law, envisioning the kidnapping of an investigative commission for Russian influence. Critics accuse the ruling PiS party that by this law it aims for months before parliamentary elections to discredit opposition politicians for allegedly friendly ties with Russia. This commission will have to prove, if mandated by the government in 2007 until 2022, they have made decisions under the influence of Russia, which may have endangered Poland's security. Polish media refer to the law “Lex Tusk”, a law specifically made against Donald Tusk. Former head of the Polish government, Tusk, has been from 2007 to 2014, head of the Polish government, and is considered the most fierce opponent of PIS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The PIS government accuses him of signing gas deals with Russia, not in Poland's favour. /dw