A strong majority of Polish people are putting money before political reforms of the judiciary, according to a new poll from SW Research that was conducted for news outlet Rzeczpospolita.
The poll asked the Polish public: “Should the government continue to pursue its judiciary reform being carried out by Zbigniew Ziobro’s ministry if it leads to the EU blocking funds for Poland?”
In response to the question, 19.2 percent of the respondents answered “yes,” while 53.8 percent answered “no.” Another 27 percent have no opinion on the matter.
The response may be a troubling sign for Polish politicians who are attempting to reform a judiciary that has been accused of being staffed with former communists and left-wing activists. The EU is threatening to withhold up to €110 billion in funding, and if such a cut were enacted, it would serve as a major blow to the Polish economy.
Justyna Sobczak from SW Research noted that the percentage of respondents who negatively assess the reform of the Polish judiciary system increases with the age of the respondents. The reform was opposed by 43 percent of respondents aged 18 to 24 years, and by 61 percent of respondents aged over 50 years.
Respondents who live in medium-sized cities (200,000 to 499,000 inhabitants) are the most opposed to the reform (59 percent), the exact same percentage as people who have higher education.
Almost seven out of 10 respondents (69 percent) with a monthly net income of €1,046 (5,000 zloty) believe that the idea of continuing the reforms is wrong.
