Thin ice as Poland rebuilds democracy

At least that's the view of a group of demonstrators waving the country's flag in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, as the Dagens ETC passed by.

They raised banners condemning Prime Minister Donald Tusk's violation of the Constitution and his declaration of a “state of emergency” in public media.

“Poland, Poland,” a patriotic lament blares from a portable speaker.

He hides in Doda Palace

On January 9, two former ministers from the former right-wing government were arrested and recently sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power. Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik took refuge in President Andrzej Duda's palace, where the police were then forced to enter and detain them.

The former ministers are members of PiS, the former conservative government party with which President Duda also has a background. According to PiS, the prison sentences are politically motivated and they call Kaminski and Vasek “political prisoners.” While Duda said that the new government is practicing “rule of law terrorism.”

– Right now, Poland is a strange place, because we are in a kind of self-defense democracy, says Public Prosecutor Eliza Rutnowska to Dagens ETC.

All this comes from the fact that the Poles did on October 15 last year what the residents of Hungary, Turkey and similar countries ruled by authoritarian right-wing populists have not yet been able to do. Despite a number of unfair elements, the democratic opposition was able to win the elections. Prime Minister Tusk's government came to power in mid-December, vowing to roll back PiS policies.

Politicization of the entire state apparatus

But this is not an easy thing to do. Another complicating factor is that the former ruling party is mobilizing supporters and doing its best to destabilize and polarize.

– People have different opinions. Are we just defeating the entire system, as PiS did in 2015-2016? Or are we just invading space so we can re-establish a democratic government? “I am of the latter opinion,” says Eliza Rutnovska.

Many Poles who voted for the new government believe that the situation today is more comparable to the time after the fall of communism. During its eight years in power, PiS undermined Poland's democratic functions. They have politicized the courts and culture and deployed pro-party officials throughout the state apparatus, drawing strong criticism from the European Union.

The Law and Justice Party calls it a coup

It is the new government's ambitions to clean up this situation and re-establish independent democratic institutions that have led to right-wing authoritarianism's cries for absolute power. For example, just before the 2023 elections, PiS had several greater powers that were transferred to National Prosecutor Darius Barski, who is very close to the party. Many constitutional experts have assessed that Barsky obtained the job illegally from the beginning.

– Therefore, the new Minister of Justice appointed a new national prosecutor. But now this has been called into question by the Law and Justice Party, which has described it as a coup, says Eliza Rutnovska.

Now we understand that Duda will actively try to block all attempts to return to democracy.

It is still the country's president who must officially sign all laws and regulations before they come into effect.

– After the elections, we were all happy and thought that the problems were over. But now we understand that Duda will actively try to prevent any attempt to return to democracy by making changes to the laws.

It has been punished with hidden archive service

Another institution that PiS politicized very quickly in 2015-2016 was Poland's public media, through the creation of a new, unconstitutional Media Council responsible for appointing new directors. The media then turned into propaganda organs spreading the government's hateful message about the EU, immigrants, gays and other “enemies”.

At the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Dagens ETC has coffee with Dorota Nygren, who formerly worked at Polish Public Radio. There, she insisted on moral principles and refused to report the news the way the leadership, which was then controlled by the Law and Justice Party, wanted. She was punished by being transferred to an archival position with reduced pay, which became a high-profile court case.

Never in my life have I seen such devastation in public media as I have seen in the past eight years.

Today she works in a research center, but is still active in the Association for Freedom of the Press with her old radio colleagues and is a local correspondent for Reporters Without Borders.

– I have never in my life seen so much devastation in the public media as I have seen in the past eight years. But we have also never seen a shift like this before, from a method of political mediation to now professional control. We journalists have great hope now.

Hatred as if blown away

During the 2023 election campaign, Tusk promised to immediately deregulate the media if he came to power. Just before Christmas, the new government replaced all senior managers. With the new administration, the media quickly underwent a major change in its content. Hate and misinformation have exploded.

However, the work of transforming Poland's state television and radio into independent and professional actors again is complex. Dorota Nygren describes it as the restoration and restoration of ruins. Recruiting is taking place everywhere, and journalists who used to be pigeonholed are suddenly being welcomed back. But there doesn't seem to be any guidance on who should be allowed to start work. You're acting dizzy.

– No one expected that we would reach the situation we are in now, and that the opposition would win. I know many people who have been allowed to return to radio, but everything happens spontaneously depending on people who know each other. I also received a phone call at the beginning of the year, saying that I had been recommended for a fairly senior position.

Dorota Nygren says all journalists know they should not work in such a disorganized way. But everyone also realizes that the choice was between keeping the media as it was working before, or entering a transitional period.

“I was affected myself”

The government's tool for producing new directors was for the new Minister of Culture to circumvent existing legislation and the Media Council formed by PiS, by claiming that the media, as state-owned companies, were also affected by Polish commercial law. This allowed them to make management decisions themselves.

This measure received widespread criticism from the Law and Justice Party. Party leader Jarosław Kaczynski, who was Poland's de facto leader, responded by occupying the TVP building with his supporters – an irony in the name of the struggle for press freedom.

Therefore, the government did not abide by the law, but rather found another way to depoliticize the media. I hope they keep that promise. I am not a supporter of the new government at all, I just look at this as a citizen who knows how ruined everything is. Dorota Negrin says: I personally was affected by it.

Criticism of “scandalous” recruitment.

The development of events in Sweden's southern neighbor is important for the whole of Europe. Poland is the first country to be ruled by authoritarian right-wing populists for a long period, and it must now try to repair the damage and rebuild democratic structures. There is no ready guide.

Human rights lawyer Malgorzata Szulicka works at the Polish Helsinki Committee in Warsaw, in the same building where Tusk's liberal-conservative Citizens Platform party is headquartered. It summarizes the political system created by PiS as an illiberal democracy on its way to becoming a state controlled almost entirely by the ruling majority.

– With the increasing trend towards tyranny.

However, the Helsinki Committee made clear criticism of the new government's actions, especially how it appointed new media directors. They say that the use of commercial law contravenes constitutional principles.

– This government must provide something, and the public media was a symbol of the previous regime. Malgorzata Szulica says what was reported was scandalous and not something appropriate in a democracy.

She stressed the need to liberalize institutions in a way that respects the constitution and international practices.

– Otherwise, it will only risk creating more chaos and threats to the rule of law. I fear we will see more abuses like this in the future, with legally questionable procedures.

“We received a lot of criticism”

The Helsinki Committee focused on these criticisms for three days before issuing its statement, fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue. However, the backlash was stronger than they expected.

I am concerned that the huge election victory in October means that the people are now giving free rein to the government.

-We received a lot of criticism, which made me think about our main goal as a human rights organization. It is a scrutiny of authority regardless of who is in power. I am concerned that the huge election victory in October means that the people are now giving free rein to the government. I understand that it is tempting for the government to do exactly what it said it would do.