Poland's constitutional crisis deepens as Tusk and Nawrocki dig in over Tribunal leadership

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal crisis sharpened Saturday as Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki publicly hardened their positions over control of the country's top constitutional court.

The confrontation stems from a late Friday order by Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspending Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy Bartłomiej Sochański from their duties for one month, with Korwin-Piotrowska assuming charge of the court. The move prompted protests by right-wing politicians and supporters.

In a televised address Saturday evening, Tusk said the ruling coalition had attempted compromise with the president but been rejected at every turn. He argued the Tribunal's judges had been lawfully elected and that no politician had the right to obstruct their work. "The rule of law differs from the law of the jungle," he said, adding that in some matters there could be no compromise.

Nawrocki, who turned his flight to Senegal around mid-air as events unfolded and went to the Tribunal building, met earlier Saturday with PiS, Konfederacja, the Polish People's Party, Poland 2050 and Razem — parties that do not normally align but have found common ground on the Tribunal dispute. He previously described Friday's events as a "breach of public order" and a forcible takeover of a constitutional body.

The Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's independent advisory body on constitutional law, has described the president's role in administering judicial oaths as ceremonial, saying he should not claim the power to review parliament's election of judges. The underlying dispute dates to 2015.