On October 15, 2023, Poland chose Europe and democracy. With an unprecedented voter turnout of 74 percent – in some large cities such as Warsaw, it even hovered around 85 percent – the Polish electorate took a strong stance against the illiberal tendencies in its own country, and therefore also in Europe. This political spring in Central Eastern Europe seems like a glimpse of hope in dark times.
For eight years, a right-wing alliance led by the national conservative PiS party governed the country, trying to transform it into an autocratic state. The separation of powers was practically abolished, the principles of the rule of law were violated, and the judiciary was instrumentalized and politicized, as were the state media. Human and women’s rights were restricted, while state institutions, education, and culture became political tools. In European policy, PiS turned its back on common values and violated EU treaties, risking a possible exit from the EU. Its rhetoric was based on a strongly anti-European, deliberately anti-German narrative that poisoned the political debate and polarized society. Not least for this reason, Poland witnessed one of the dirtiest and most brutal election campaigns in Polish history. Despite all this, the opposition successfully mobilized broad sections of the electorate, including a large number of young people (over 25 percent more than in the previous elections) and women.
The democratic opposition won the majority of the seats. PiS received the most votes as a single party, but fell short of the absolute majority it needed to form a government. The incumbent PiS government and the PiS-affiliated President obstructed the opposition’s process of government formation, delaying the constituent session until December 13, 2023, almost two months after the election.
How can Poland’s shattered legal order be restored?
The governing coalition – a three-way alliance (Civic Coalition KO, Third Way, and the Left) comprising a total of nine parties – is facing major challenges. Not only Polish society, but also the European public is watching with interest: How can a country whose democratic principles were dismantled by a previous government be reformed? How can Poland’s shattered legal order be restored? Current conditions are more than challenging: The President, who is close to PiS and has already announced that he will make extensive use of his right of veto, must approve the necessary legislative changes, for example in the area of justice. Cooperation with him will be riddled with constant conflicts and crises. In order to reform the judicial system and restore the rule of law, the government needs the collaboration of the Constitutional Court, which is staffed by appointees of the previous government and shows little inclination to cooperate; instead, it is behaving like a highly politicized instrument of the PiS party. The new Minister of Justice is faced with the task of cleaning up the legal chaos caused by the PiS government. A similar situation applies to reforming state media. It will take considerable time to achieve tangible success. All committed democratic forces in the country will have to muster the necessary patience.
The new government will have to focus on domestic policy to deal with its current internal situation. This is an additional challenge given our current geopolitical crises, not only for the Polish government, but also for European politics. The country has become a frontline state and an important security guarantor, not least because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the ongoing war. Poland has returned to the European family, where it will proactively voice its positions and interests on issues ranging from EU security strategy and migration policy to energy policy and EU reform. This doesn’t mean that it will always be easy. However, it is encouraging that Poland, as one of the largest Member States, is now a constructive participant at the EU negotiating table, based on a democratic and pro-European mindset.
Joanna Maria Stolarek has headed the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Warsaw Office since 2019. A trained journalist, she studied German, Slavic, and Spanish Studies in Tübingen. She spent several years working as a political and business editor for regional daily newspapers. As a member of Neue deutsche Medienmacher, a German network of journalists, she advocates for diversity in media coverage. She is a sought-after expert in the field of German–Polish relations.