For many Poles, things are not moving fast enough

On a summer Sunday, around fifty people have gathered behind the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Legnica. That’s not a lot for a city with just under 100,000 inhabitants. Their attention is not focused on the empty speaker’s platform or the free mineral water being distributed, but rather on a tousled gray man in a black T-shirt and worn-out sneakers. The man is sitting in the shade of a white van with the words “Power of the Young – Bridge of Generations” and is handing out brochures. A line has formed in front of the man in his mid-fifties, passers-by want selfies and autographs. The man they adore is not an old Polish rocker, but Poland’s most famous judge. His name is Igor Tuleya.

Shortly before, in the shade of the “Cactus Cafe,” Tuleya explained why he and a group of activists had set off on a “Tour de Konstytucja,” a constitutional tour. Like many citizens, he is worried. The liberal turnaround promised by the new center-left government of Donald Tusk is progressing so slowly and the resistance is much greater than expected, he says. “During the election campaign, all democratic opposition parties promised to restore the rule of law; now they have been in power for over half a year and give the impression that they have no concept.”

A temporarily disempowered judge

Tuleya is particularly concerned about the judicial reforms of the previous conservative government. The government tried to replace as many of the judges as possible with magistrates who were loyal to the party. It also created new chambers in the courts and filled them with loyal judges. The most controversial was the disciplinary chamber in the Supreme Court, which was set up against judges critical of the government. All of this brought Poland several EU rule of law proceedings and convictions by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Tuleya felt the upheaval himself: as a district judge in Warsaw, he was subjected to disciplinary proceedings and banned from practicing his profession for almost three years. His opposition to the policies of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) made him famous throughout the country.

Today, Tuleya is back in office – but far from satisfied. He suspects that the new government lacks the will to reverse the PiS laws. Poland’s largest association of judges, Iustitia, has already drawn up the necessary draft laws, and the government could use them. But unlike state television, where it took a radical approach and reorganized the channels, the judiciary is still debating the right path. Meanwhile, chaos is spreading: judgments from the PiS government are already being questioned; the already completely understaffed judicial system is threatened by a flood of appeals, says Tuleya.

Election promises failed

He has observed that the eight years of PiS government were a traumatic experience not only for judges, but also for women and minorities. He is glad that time is over. But Tuleya is not an unconditional supporter of the new government. He sees his job as keeping an eye on every state power, he says. And because he believes that on the basis of Poland’s constitution, citizens of all political stripes can be reconciled with one another, he is currently touring from north-east to west Poland and holding public discussions on constitutional issues. This afternoon in Legnica, the focus will be on the freedom guaranteed in the basic right.

Women in particular have placed great hopes in the new government in this regard, but they too will have to be patient. At the beginning of the year, state support for artificial insemination was decided and the right to prenatal examinations, which was often denied under the PiS, was enshrined; and the morning-after pill is again available in pharmacies, at least on prescription.

But in the summer, a law submitted by the left to liberalize the restrictive abortion law failed in parliament. It would have aimed to abolish penalties for assisting in an abortion – specifically for the doctor performing the abortion. In the end, three votes were missing, but one of the most well-known election promises of Tusk’s coalition failed. The culprits were the conservative farmers’ party PSL – a member of the governing coalition – and a prominent comrade of Tusk’s who demonstratively stayed away from the vote.

The spirit of optimism that emerged after the liberal opposition’s surprise election victory in October 2023 has given way to a feeling of stagnation and disillusionment. At least that’s what politicians and activists in Warsaw say. However, the picture becomes more nuanced when you move away from the capital.

“The fear has diminished”

On the sidelines of a pop festival in Gdynia on the Baltic Sea, the NGO “Federa – Foundation for Women and Family Planning” has set up a large tent. It is luring festival-goers, some of whom are very young, with a lottery on the topic of sexuality to talk about contraception and patients’ rights, including those who want an abortion. Julia Karwan-Jastrzebska has noticed a noticeable change. “The fear has diminished,” she says. Just a year ago, many women were very worried about state control before visiting the doctor; it was said that pregnant women were registered in order to detect any abortions. Today the motto is: “The liberals are in power, it can’t be that bad anymore.”

The fact that the government is far from keeping its promise of a time limit solution does not frustrate Karwan-Jastrzebska as much as she is pleased with the new openness. “Today, women have more courage to insist on their rights – albeit limited ones – at the doctor’s and in the hospital,” she reports from her hundreds of consultations.

Alexandra Muzinska is less optimistic. She distributes leaflets from the Fund for Change, a foundation that looks after sexual minorities in small towns and rural areas. “I am incredibly angry,” she says. “This is the fourth time that the Liberals have promised marriage-like, civil partnerships for same-sex couples during the election campaign. And again nothing is happening,” says the LGBT activist. The mood has changed, but that is all, she says frustrated.

Neither Poland’s women, nor homosexuals, nor refugees from Asia and Africa have been given more rights. In her eyes, only the left in the government coalition is any good, but they are alone in their demands. “Tusk’s party is doing nothing and is using the Peasants’ Party as a scapegoat,” Muzinska sums up the situation.

Tomasz and Kamil, both in their mid-thirties and a couple for twelve years, think that tolerance in Poland is not so bad. The older one comes from Wroclaw and works for a condom factory that laid out samples at the festival. The younger one grew up in a small town near Poznan and works for an international company. “The change of government at the end of 2023 didn’t change anything, but my move to Warsaw did,” says Kamil. Since he has been living in the capital, he has felt completely safe and very comfortable. The only thing he avoids, he says with a laugh, is the football fans of the local club Legia Warsaw.

Poland has become much more open in recent years. However, this is not due to politicians, but rather to the fact that some citizens have spent years abroad, says Kamil. The two do have expectations of politicians: They hope for civil law solutions for homosexuals, for example in inheritance law. “We bought an apartment together, took out a mortgage, but when one of us dies, the other is legally a stranger, a nobody,” they complain.

Reprieve for Tusk?

As the 24th stop of the constitutional tour with Judge Igor Tuleya draws to a close in Legnica, 450 kilometers away, the discussion frays. But the participants who stayed until the end express their satisfaction.

“At least we are discussing things again without insulting each other and shouting,” says Katarzyna Odrowska, a city council member with blonde dreadlocks. She came mainly for Tuleya, she says, adding something that already sounds stale and kitschy in Warsaw: “The day after the parliamentary elections, I could finally breathe freely again!”

The cultural and environmental activist invites people for a glass of wine. The local alternative scene has gathered for a jam session at an old German water tower not far from the train station. Many report that the eight years of PiS government now seem like a nightmare to them, others say that they have gone into internal exile during that time.

Renata mingled with the audience at the spontaneous concert with her husband and young daughter. She had returned from England to her hometown in Lower Silesia shortly before the PiS was re-elected in 2019 to start a family. Thanks to her parents’ help with childcare, she and her husband felt better socially secure in Poland than in a foreign country. For the past five years, she has been shouting against the PiS at protest events and in a punk band with the apt name Wara! (German: Get out!), she says. “I hope I never have to go to a demonstration again.” As far as the liberal turnaround in the country is concerned, she remains optimistic: we must be patient with the new government, the PiS-friendly President Andrzej Duda will remain in office until 2025, she says. Until then, Tusk’s hands are tied.