THIS is what happened when the people showed up Saturday night to protest proposed right wing laws. Rick Lyman with The New York Times reports:
WARSAW — Following tumultuous protests, and warnings from the European Union, Poland’s president vetoed two proposed laws on Monday that would have given the right-wing governing party direct control of the judiciary.
The veto actions of President Andrzej Duda were unexpected and one would could say, so were the actions of the citizens.
Poles denouncing the laws as a retreat from democratic norms had taken to the streets by the tens of thousands, and the European Union, which Poland joined in 2004, had warned Warsaw that adopting the laws — which the bloc’s officials called a threat to judicial independence and the rule of law — could result in legal sanctions.
Nonetheless, the decision by the president, Andrzej Duda, was unexpected. He was elected in May 2015 as the handpicked candidate of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, which won parliamentary elections later that year, and until now has been a steadfast ally of the government, though there have been rumors of a rift between Mr. Duda and the party’s leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Here’s a glimpse of Saturday’s protest via Exen (@Exen) on Twitter.
The protest against the Right-Wing government is far from over, but for the people, it’s a step forward.
Here is a news video posted on the EuroNews YouTube channel.
Did this have anything to do with Trump? CNN writes:
The public outcry over efforts to curtail judiciary independence has flown largely under the radar amid recent high-profile visits
to Poland
by US President Donald Trump and the British royals.
But the US State Department tweeted a warning Friday to Poland "to ensure that any judicial reform does not violate (the) constitution & respects judicial independence."
When asked whether the Trump administration would urge Duda to veto the measure, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: "I am not aware if we will ask him to do that."
Tens of thousands of Poles just proved to the world that, once again, when the people rise up loud, strong and in numbers, the government has no choice but to listen. And we are seeing this in America every day.
Cheers to #TheResistance worldwide.
H/t: Being Liberal.