‘Illiberal democracy’? The Orban-ization of Poland, explained
AEIdeas
The EU’s elites sometimes overreact when politicians in member states make seemingly unenlightened decisions. The president of European Parliament, Martin Schulz, compared the recent developments in Poland to a “coup d’état.” The European Commission, in turn, is activating its “rule of law mechanism,” increasing scrutiny of recent policy changes in the country.
This time around, the concerns are not overblown. Even Leszek Balcerowicz, the eminent Polish economist and reformer, called the changes “the greatest test of supporters of freedom and rule of law in Poland since 1989.” So what exactly is happening?
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda speaks during his announcement at Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland December 28, 2015. The president signed into law an amendment to how its constitutional court makes rulings. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel.
Media law
Both the European Commission and Mr. Schulz’s “coup d’état” remark referred to Poland’s new media law, approved by the Polish Sejm. The law changes the status of Poland’s public broadcasters to “national cultural institutions” – like the National Museum or the National Ballet – placing them under direct control of the government. At the present time, public media are instead overseen by the National Broadcasting Council, elected by the Sejm for six years, with members who cannot be otherwise politically active.
Like other European countries, Poland has a rich landscape of public-service broadcasters, including nine television channels and five national radio channels, which account for large segments of the respective media markets. We might or we might not like the idea of public broadcasting, but to the extent to which it does exist, there is a case for insulating it from political pressures, instead of turning it into an arm of government. The new media law will do the opposite, making Polish public broadcasting look less like NPR or BBC and more like government media in countries to the east of Poland.
The Constitutional Court
Shortly before the October election, the Sejm elected five new Constitutional Court judges. After the elections, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) together with President Andrzej Duda sought to reverse those appointments, notwithstanding a ruling by the Constitutional Court that confirmed that the October election of new judges was valid. Shortly before Christmas, the Sejm passed an amendment to the existing law on the Constitutional Court, which would require a two-thirds majority (instead of a simple majority) and the presence of at least 13 (instead of nine) of the 15 judges for a decision, as well as a mandatory latency period before it delivers a verdict on a case.
As a result, the amendment restrains the ability of the Court to effectively challenge the decisions taken by the government. That might appear to be a good thing for PiS supporters; for those who care about limited government, not so much.
Economic policy
Some refer to the new Polish government as “right-wing” or “conservative.” When it comes to economic policy, the PiS is anything but: consider the introduction of a special annual tax imposed on bank assets, exempting government bonds, of course. There is also the Hungary-inspired plan to forcibly convert a part of the mortgages denominated in Swiss francs into zlotys, forcing an unspecified amount of losses on the financial industry. PiS also promised to reverse the recent increase in retirement age, as well as a range of new social benefits, raising concerns about the fiscal trajectory that the country is on.
Miscellaneous
A multitude of other events are raising eyebrows, too. In December, military police raided the NATO-affiliated “Counter- Intelligence Centre of Excellence” in Warsaw, run jointly by Poland and Slovakia. The defense ministry justified the raid, which took place after midnight, by claiming that “it was difficult to determine whether there are actually competent people.” And, on top of everything, the former head of the Poland Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mariusz Kamiński, who had been sentenced in March 2015 to three years in prison for illegal wiretapping, was granted a presidential pardon by President Duda and appointed as the new coordinator for secret services in the PiS government.
Overall, even if the PiS’ first two months in office are not a “coup d’état,” they are hardly encouraging. Until recently, Viktor Orbán’s Hungary was the pariah of Central and Eastern Europe. Today, with Slovakia headed for a parliamentary election that might very well give a constitutional majority to its own strongman, Robert Fico, “illiberal democracy” is becoming the norm on the EU’s Eastern flank.
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Contrary to alarmists media reports, we want to reassure you here from Poland, that there is no current threat to democracy. The mainstream media keep
criticising the current government at will, all day long. People enjoy
the right to public protest. This seems obvious in a democracy,
however, during the last eight years it was not standard in Poland. It
was during the rule of the Civic Platform and Polish People’s Party
(PO-PSL) coalition that the standards of a democratic state were frequently violated. Here are some examples:
– During the rule of PO-PSL coalition, independent journalists were repeatedly harassed by the security agencies. The staff of, among other dailies, “Gazeta Polska” had their homes searched. In May 2011, at six
in the morning, agents of the Internal Security Agency entered the flat of an internet user who ran a satirical website on the then President, Bronisław Komorowski.
– Independent journalists were dismissed from their posts as they
demanded honest investigation into the Smolensk air crash that killed President Lecz Kaczyński and many others. Tomasz Sakiewicz and Anita Gargas, among others, lost their jobs in the public media. Cezary Gmyz was dismissed from the editorial staff of “Rzeczpospolita” for publishing information indicating that there were traces of TNT found on the wreck of the plane that crashed at
Smolensk. Later, the information was confirmed by the prosecutors,
leading the investigation.
– In June 2014, agents of the Internal Security Agency raided the
office of the weekly “Wprost”, which revealed stenographic records of conversations held by many important politicians. The agents wanted to confiscate computers and data storage discs belonging to the journalists. The so-called tape scandal that erupted a few days earlier, provided evidence, among other things, that state-owned companies subsidized only the media writing in favor of the government. They ignored such indicators as reading of the press.
Media houses were pressed not to place their advertisements in the
independent press. For that reason a huge part of the media, “Gazeta
Polska” included, were deprived of paid-for commercial advertisements.
– In December 2014, two journalists (Tomasz Gzell of the Polish Press
Agency and Jan Pawlicki of Telewizja Republika) were arrested. They covered the protest held at the headquarters of the National Electoral Commission. For a week or so, the Commission was not able to provide the results of the local elections which agitated Poles and some decided to occupy the premises of the Commission. The journalists were arrested even though they had their proper identity cards. They also faced a
lawsuit filed against them. To this very day, the results of the last local
elections remain highly questionable, the proof being 2 thousand protest notes lodged in local courts.
– During the last 8 years, the previous government kept journalists and citizens under surveillance as a usual practice. Only in 2014, the secret service applied to obtain records of 2,177,000 telephone billings.
In Europe, we were definitely in the lead in this area. The District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw is conducting an investigation into the wire tapping of independent journalists. In all likelihood, the service had no court
warrant to do so.
– In May 2015, after President Bronisław Komorowski lost the presidentiqal elections,
the PO-PSL coalition violated the constitution and decided to elect
new members of the Constitutional Tribunal. The politicians of the
retiring coalition wanted to limit the right of the new ruling party
to elect judges of their choice and appropriate the Tribunal
completely. Today, after the reforms implemented by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, the judges elected by the Civic Platform still
constitute the majority. They occupy 9 of 15 seats in the
Constitutional Tribunal.
These are just a few glaring examples faced today. Similar violations of civil
liberties were truly abundant. The government formed by the PO-PSL
coalition was also involved in many corruption scandals. Under their
nose, a pyramid scheme named “Amber Gold” flourished, where thousands of Poles were
cheated and deprived of their savings. The public said enough is
enough and two months ago as a result of democratic elections, the PO-PSL coalition was voted out of power.
Democracy in Poland is doing fine, as compared to the eight years
under the previous government.
Couldn’t have said it better myself 🙂
Anybody that break the law deserves to be prosecuted respectively (like wiretapping without consent).
PiS has changed the law so they’d be able to do whatever they want if needs be. The thing is that those changes were unlawful themselves.
Let’s hope that after 4 years we will still be able to vote in free elections and all responsible will be dealt with as they should by proper courts.
Europe, help us oppressed! Please.
Do not listen to Jan Czarnecki. This is representative of the new government.
Keep Calm, democracy in Poland is doing fine, really 🙂
America, Europe, help us oppressed! Please.
Do not listen to Jan Czarnecki. This is representative of the new government.
That’s a big load of lies, written by a paid PR agent… Jan Czarniecki: how much do u you get for each comment?
So the AEI is now in love with the NPR and the BBC. No wonder it’s going to be either Trump or Clinton in 2016. The Buckleization of the Republican Party is slowly coming to an end – anyone still read Rich Lowry other than his mom?. Ron Paul kicked it, Trump will kick it again. If he does not break it, maybe the next person will. And the AEI will be revealed for what it is – SPLC-light.
Orban is hardly a pariah in Europe. I’m betting that if there was an election for EU-President, Orban would win – unless Le Pen ran against him… (and I’m betting you know that very well).
And Mr. Bohac, guess what, after Fico, Orban and Kaczynski, the Czechs will be next. Did you ask for asylum yet? After an article like this, that may be something to think about pronto
Unfortunately, that situation is very serious. I am very pleased by the fact, that many friends of Poland, watch carefully what the present government is doing in Warsaw. Let me remind everyone, that there were dictators in the history of the world, who started their dictatorships by winning the democratic election. So, let’s stay vigilant. The danger is real.