Several thousand people took to the streets in Poland this Sunday in what will be the largest protests since the fall of the communist regime in 1989. The demonstrators included Lech Walesa, the first Polish president after the fall of communism, and Donald Tusk, former President of the European Council and former Prime Minister who is currently Leader of the Opposition. Only in the capital Warsaw, the figures pointed to 500 thousand people.
Yesterday’s protests arose as a form of disputation against the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS, in its original acronym). Protesters are contesting the government’s lack of response to the rising cost of living and inflation, as well as demanding the rights of women and the LGBT community. They also denounce the recently passed law (which has been criticized by the European Union and the United States) that allows for the creation of a commission to investigate alleged Russian influence in Polish politics, as well as the possibility of banning people to assume public office for 10 years. On Wednesday, former Prime Minister and current leader of PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said it was “almost certain” that Russia will try to interfere in the elections, which will take place later this year.
During the protest, Donald Tusk stated that “democracy dies in silence, but today you have raised your voices for democracy, the silence is over”. PiS called the protests “the march of hate”.
Source: DN
