This is the third part of an in-depth review of the law-and-order crisis facing several key Polish institutions - all adding up to a constitutional crisis.
Kant's "Nation of Devils"
Kant famously said that a good constitution would preserve harmony even among a nation of devils - as long as they were in possession of reason. The idea was that a good constitution can handle human weakness. Kant may have overestimated the power of reason - whether in the minds of the devils or in the procedures of the constitution - and underestimated the power of fraternisation.
The Supreme Audit Office (NIK)
Kant's idea that a good organisation of constitutional roles and rules can withstand the limitations of individuals seems to hold true for the recent history of Poland's Supreme Audit Office, whose role is to audit public spending. Indeed, it seems to show that personal conflict can positively help the state.
The current President of NIK, Marian Banaś, was nominated by Law and Justice, the outgoing ruling party, however they quickly fell into conflict. Law and Justice (PIS) have been unable to remove Banaś who has in turn conducted critical audits of PIS-controlled bodies - increasing transparency.
The President of Poland
Andrzej Duda, President of Poland since 2015, resigned from his membership in the Law and Justice Party in a gesture of independence from party politics.
Nevertheless, he has been widely perceived as too accommodating towards the government, failing to use his presidential veto on key occasions concerning encroachments of the legislature and the executive into the powers of the judiciary. For this approach he has frequently been mocked as "the pen" - implying that he signs anything that is put in front of him.
In actual fact, he has used the presidential veto more often than two previous presidents - Komorowski and Jaruzelski who, however, had shorter terms in office. Duda in particular vetoed widely criticised bills popularly known as "Lex Czarnek" and "Lex TVN" - bills that were perceived as attacking education and press freedoms respectively.
Dr Andrzej Duda is educated in law and so would understand the spectre of the State Tribunal for those public officials who violate the constitution. Among others, the former Head of the Constitutional Tribunal Jerzy Stępięń (also nominated and sworn-in by a right-wing parliament and President Lech Kaczyński) has warned Duda and Beata Szydło of the dangers of violating the constitution.
The Governor of the Central Bank (NBP)
Like Andrzej Duda, the current Governor of the NBP, Adam Glapiński, appears to have little reason to compromise the independence of the key institution he heads - Poland's Central Bank. A former Professor of Economics who has occupied a number of political and academic positions, he does not appear to be under particular pressure to be loyal to any political party rather than pursuing the constitutional goals of the NBP (above all defending the value of the Polish Zloty).
Despite this, a number of economists and former governors have criticised Glapiński for serving the short-term interests of the ruling party, abandoning the independence of the NBP and improperly limiting the independence of other members of the Monetary Policy Council (which the NBP Governor also chairs.)
Rather than being the fault, in this case, of procedures or laws, the lack of a check on government policy from the NBP may be due to the personal "charisma" of Jarosław Kaczyński who was "only", formally, the Head of the Law and Justice Party for most of the period in question.
This is not, however, the first time that the NBP has been under fire for violating its constitutional role. In 2014, then Governor Marek Belka (associated with the post-communist left of SLD), was caught on tape "negotiating" structural changes to laws concerning the NBP with the then Interior Minister Sienkiewicz (PO). Former Governor Leszek Balcerowicz called for Belka's resignation "for his own sake and to protect the NBP". Belka did not resign.
The General Public and the "Elites"
One check on government abuses of power is of course the general public, evidenced in the large-scale marches that have marked the rule of Law and Justice. However, it should also be pointed out that some infringements of the constitution reflect broadly held opinions in Poland. Reporters Without Borders have commented that in Poland "public awareness of press freedoms remain weak".
A similar situation has arisen with respect to the right of assembly, guaranteed in the constitution, when it comes to "Equality Parades" - representing but not limited to the gay community. Both Jarosław and the deceased Lech Kaczyński expressed opinions that the rights of gay people are satisfactorily respected in Poland as long as there are no acts of violence, or if, as Jarosław Kaczyński said, "there are gay people in political parties". This apparent lack of awareness of the constitutional right to assembly is widespread.
The World Values Survey for 2010-2014 for Poland revealed that almost 40% of Poles would not like to "live next door to homosexuals" - a very high figure for Europe. This attitude, identified and criticised by Amnesty International, is commonly expressed by saying, "I tolerate them as long as they do not manifest/demonstrate" - in direct contradiction to the constitution. PIS exploited these attitudes in election campaigns, but did not create them.
Sources: money.pl, wyborcza.pl, The World Values Survey, amnesty.org.pl, wp.pl, newsweek.pl
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