Poland inches closer to bad old days...

On July 12, Poland approved a new legislation that gives its Law Minister the power to appoint and dismiss judges. This is despite the warning by three former Presidents of Poland, including the iconic Lech Walesa, that such a move will destroy the constitutional order and the entire judicial system. Since then, thousands of protesting Poles have been dubbed anti-nationalists and Lech Walsea has been vilified. Undeterred, the night of July 20 saw a massive show of dissent with protestors congregating in large numbers in an unprecedented 70 cities. The ruling party's project to “clean Poland of its past” includes ridding the country of liberals, communists, their supporters and the secret police. It has been the current Prime Minister's pet theme ever since he had served an earlier term with his deceased twin brother as the President. These protests succeed similar demonstrations last year against restrictions on the Press.

FOR almost 30 years, Poland has been presented as an inspiring example of a successful transition from a totalitarian state towards a fully liberal democracy, from a centralised, corrupt economy to a free market, open and successfully resisting the crises structure. July 21 probably was the last day of such a Poland that the whole world admired. It looks like the glorious story came to its end.

Since the far-right nationalistic party Law and Justice scored a victory in the November 2015 elections, we actually knew the things would get difficult for all liberal-minded people. Still the purge in public institutions, communist-like propaganda in public media, growing conflict with the EU and unofficial support given by the rulers to the extreme right nationalistic and anti-semite organisations surprised us as if it was a new experience in our turbulent history. On July 21, however, Kaczynski and his party crossed another line — putting under political control the Supreme Court and the whole judicial system. The basic constitutional rules have been broken and there is no independent Constitutional Tribunal anymore to guard the standards. On the night of July 21, hundreds of thousands of Poles took the streets protesting in Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Krakow, Gdansk,  Lodz and many, many others cities and towns against breaking the Constitution and giving the whole power to one man and one party. Poland is entering another dark period in its history. Repressions and persecution are expected as soon as the fall comes. Political opposition is about to be totally marginalised. Autonomy of the universities is in jeopardy. Foreign and domestic independent media will share the same fate through the new law limiting the foreign investments in tv, Press and radio. Newly formed Territorial Defence Forces, composed mainly by the activists recruited from among nationalistic youth organisations (ONR) will take control over the civilians everyday life. This is not just another scary dream, it's a real perspective of a country where the Solidarity movement was born and Lech Walesa broke the totalitarian chains, paving the path to many others.

All the people who care about the liberal democracy, individual freedom and human rights should know that a new dictatorship has just been born. A dictatorship with the scent of national socialism.  Yes, we know, only the Polish people can solve the dramatic situation. 

Only we, through the democratic process, can restore the rule of law and respect to the basic common values. The international community cannot stand aside and keep the business as usual. We need you, your voice, your support and your action... before Poland, we all knew and loved, dies.

The writer is a former Polish diplomat