On the 34th anniversary of Poland’s first postwar democratic election, hundreds of thousands of protestors gathered in Warsaw on Sunday for a march that the liberal opposition has framed as a test of its capacity to overthrow nearly eight years of nationalist government later this year.
Crowds marched for at least a mile, holding banners that read “Free, European Poland,” “European Union yes, PiS no,” alluding to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Some people were wearing masks of governing party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski with the word “shame” printed on them. According to organizers, half a million people marched. Police and local authorities refused to provide an estimate. Thousands marched in other Polish cities and towns as well.
“I’ve marched in many marches, but I’ve never seen a protest of this size with such energy; I feel this is a breakthrough like June 4, 1989,” said Jacek Gwozdz, 51, an IT professional from Nowy Sacz, in Warsaw.
Protests against a “anti-democratic” measure are taking place in Warsaw, Poland
— Vattaj.com (@vattaj) June 4, 2023
Learn more: https://t.co/KL8JkrENRN#Marsz4czerwca #marsz #Warszawa #warsaw #poland #vattaj #PiS #WielkiMarsz pic.twitter.com/YrOktD8Xlr
Opinion surveys indicate that an election expected this summer will be hotly contested, with Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine bolstering the Law and Justice (PiS) administration, which has emerged as Europe’s main voice against the Kremlin.
Despite significant criticism at home and abroad of the PiS, which has been accused of undermining the rule of law, turning state media into a government mouthpiece, and condoning homophobia, the opposition has struggled to gain traction.
The administration of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denies violating any democratic standards and claims that its goal is to defend traditional Christian values against liberal pressures from the West and to make the economy more equitable.
Donald Tusk, the Civic Platform group’s leader and a former European Union council chief, greeted supporters, stressing that Poles’ voices could not be muted.
“Democracy dies in silence, but you’ve raised your voice for democracy today, the silence is over, we will shout,” he declared at the march’s conclusion.
“There’s half a million people in the streets of Warsaw, it’s an absolute record,” he told the capital’s crowds gathered at Castle Square.
Tusk appealed for unity in the opposition despite political differences and vowed victory in elections scheduled for October or November.
“Today, I’m vowing to win, to hold those in power accountable, to right wrongs so that people can be reconciled in the end,” he stated.
A mostly free vote in June 1989 gave victory to a government formed by the Solidarity labor union, triggering a chain of events that culminated in the collapse of the Berlin Wall that November.
Check also: Scholz responds to pro-Putin protestors in Berlin