“Watch out, democracy wants to pass,” Iwona shouts as she and three others carry a black coffin and try to make their way through the packed streets of Warsaw. Left and right people move aside for the coffin, on which ‘democracy’ is written in large white letters. “This is perhaps the last free demonstration in this country,” says the Polish woman in the shadows a little further on.
Along with hundreds of thousands of others, Iwona will join the protest march against the current Polish government this Sunday, on the day Poland celebrates 34 years since its first partially free elections.
The turnout is huge, much higher than the organizers expected. Subways to the center are packed, the side streets of the route are crowded and while the end of the demonstration is announced in the old center of the city, people are still starting the march three kilometers away. According to the organization, about half a million people participated.
Like many other demonstrators, Iwona is deeply concerned about democracy in Poland. “This government is dishonest, lies and threatens the future of my children who want to live in a normal and free country.” She takes the arm of an older man. “This is Kryzstoff,” she says. “He is one of the demonstrators who fought for our freedom in Gdansk,” she refers to the trade union uprisings in the port city that heralded the fall of communism in Poland.
Broke
He was at all the big demonstrations and uprisings against communist rule, says Kryzstof, reciting a series of dates and place names. “But this is the first time I have come to Warsaw to demonstrate,” says the man who is “only 73.” “Why? To save democracy, after it has been destroyed for the past eight years,” he says, referring to the PiS (Law and Justice) party’s reign.
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The massive turnout is largely due to the entry into force of a new law last week that would allow a committee to bar politicians from running for election if they have been influenced by Russia in the past. The law, dubbed ‘Lex Tusk’ by the opposition, appears to be a direct attack on former Prime Minister Donald Tusk of the opposition Burgerplaftorm (PO), who wants to take on PiS as party leader this autumn.
This may be the last free demonstration in this country
Iwona protester in Warsaw
President Andrzej Duda made some recommendations last Friday to take the edge off the law, but the damage has already been done among the demonstrators. After the introduction of the ‘Lex Tusk’, almost all opposition parties decided to join the march.
But the protest is broader. In addition to Polish flags and those of the European Union, many people also walk around with the rainbow flag. There are organizations that advocate for free media, for the independent judiciary and for women’s rights. What binds them all: their aversion to PiS.
Pinocchio nose
Shortly after noon there is a congestion in the center. Dozens of police officers stand in front of the presidential palace. Protester Tomasz holds up a cardboard sign with a picture of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (PiS) with a Pinocchio nose. “He and the whole government, they are liars, who do not even hide their lies,” says Tomasz.
He is here today mainly because of his concerns about the cultural sector in which he works. “This government has destroyed so much by appointing people to cultural institutions who are politically controlled,” he says. “While I think that culture and politics should not be mixed.”
Tomasz hopes that this demonstration will help to unite the Poles and that they will vote out the current PiS government in the autumn, when the elections will take place. “But if PiS falsifies the elections, we will create a second Majdan here,” he says, referring to the months-long civil protests in Kyiv in 2013 and 2014. “Then we will stop being so good and take to the streets. Because all of us here are fed up with this government. In fact, we are furious.”
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