In his letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President Andrzej Duda warns that the ongoing chaos within law enforcement agencies undermines the interests of Poland and its citizens, potentially paralyzing the justice system. He urges the prime minister and the minister of justice to refrain from further attempts to make unlawful changes to the prosecution service.
Duda’s letter highlights a constitutional dispute initiated earlier this year, resulting in the suspension of all proceedings involving the appointment of the national prosecutor. He insists that any actions taken thereafter are illegitimate.
In a letter to Tusk, Duda stated that in the president’s opinion, Dariusz Barski still holds the position of prosecutor general, as he was not officially removed according to the prescribed legal procedure, which involves consultation with the President.
The government chose to bypass the president by removing the national prosecutor, first of all, by appointing an acting head of the prosecution service, a position not envisaged by law. Recently the government went further and appointed a national prosecutor, arguing that the president failed to give his opinion on the candidate proposed.
Replying to the president’s letter, Donald Tusk posted on X platform that the head of state should “allow the national prosecutor to do his job,” citing that the prosecution service may now tackle the findings of the auditors that former Law and Justice (PiS) Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and one of his deputies, Jacek Sasin, were involved in illicit dealings such as the purchase of faulty ventilators and other equipment during the pandemic.
Tusk’s words were in turn commented on by Morawiecki, who said that Tusk was “posturing to be a sheriff” when in fact he was just deflecting attention from the fact that he was not keeping his election promises such as tax cuts.
Morawiecki also said that his government took emergency action to ensure that people were protected during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that when it comes to breaking the law, he cannot compete with the blatant abuse of power taking place as a result of the actions of the Tusk government.
