Thousands take to streets to protest Poland’s Law and Justice party

Opposition party Civic Platform is leading in the polls for the first time in years.

As many as 90,000 people demonstrated in Warsaw on Saturday in protest of the government’s perceived anti-democratic tendencies and anti-Brussels rhetoric.

Poland’s largest opposition party Civic Platform, which organized the the so-called Freedom March, recently outstripped the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in the polls for the first time in years.

Civic Platform leader Grzegorz Schetyna on Saturday said the march was the first step to “freedom” — and an election win, according to Radio Poland.

Some in the crowd repurposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, wearing caps and other gear that declared “Make Law & Justice Small Again.”

Poland’s government clashed with the European Commission over its judicial policy after it sought to discard appointments made to the country’s constitutional court while Civic Platform was still in power. Brussels opened investigations into the affair, while Polish opposition parties claimed the government was undermining the country’s democratic traditions.

Ahead of the march, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński denied that there was any threat to the country’s freedom.

“Only a total failure to see reality could lead someone to the conclusion that there is a threat to freedom,” he said.

Schetyna countered the comments Saturday, saying “this is not true and we know it.”

Other speakers complained of the government’s spat with the Brussels, according to the Associated Press.

Radio Poland reported that members of other opposition parties, representatives from the Polish Teachers’ Union, a former constitutional court judge and other leading dignitaries attended the march.

Click Here: habitat tord boontje