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Polish Official: Protests Led by 'Frustrated' Opposition

by Associated Press

   WARSAW --

   Poland's foreign minister has criticized anti-government protests that
   have flared for days, saying Monday that they are the work of
   frustrated opposition politicians who cannot accept their loss of power
   and the government's popularity.

   Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said he believed the protests
   against proposed restrictions of media coverage of parliament were
   merely "a pretext, an excuse to start protests on a massive scale
   against the situation in Poland.''
   Opposition leaders insist that their protests are aimed at preserving
   democratic standards.
   Poland has been in a state of political crisis for more than a year
   over sweeping changes introduced by the populist Law and Justice party.
   Many of the changes have been denounced by the European Union and many
   liberal Poles as violations of the rule of law, particularly steps that
   have paralyzed the judicial branch of government.
   Still, Law and Justice remains relatively popular, with some 36 percent
   support in a recent poll, thanks to its higher welfare spending and a
   patriotic outlook that appeals to many, especially in smaller towns.
   The crisis deepened Friday when opposition lawmakers occupied the
   speaker's podium in parliament, blocking work on legislation.
   The immediate trigger for the sit-in was Speaker Marek Kuchcinski's
   decision to exclude an opposition lawmaker from the proceedings for
   going to the podium with a card bearing the words "free media.''
   The deeper issue was a plan by the ruling Law and Justice party to
   restrict media access to lawmakers in parliament, denounced as
   unconstitutional by the opposition parties.
   Protests then erupted in front of the parliament building and continued
   all weekend, spreading to other cities. More are planned for Monday.
   Waszczykowski said he believed the protests were not spontaneous.
   "We believe that that protests are a result of a certain frustration by
   the opposition, which, first of all, still can't accept the fact that
   they lost two elections last year, the presidential elections and the
   parliamentary elections,'' Waszczykowski said. "And it can't accept the
   fact that after 14 months of exercising power and undertaking difficult
   reforms, public opinion polls show a huge advantage of the ruling
   party.''
   A recent survey by the CBOS polling institute found the largest
   opposition parties trailing in popularity -- 16 percent for Civic
   Platform and 14 percent for Modern.
   Radek Sikorski of Civic Platform, a former foreign minister and former
   parliament speaker, said Waszczykowski's accusations have no merit and
   that the only real goal of the opposition is to ensure that the
   government respects the constitutional order.
   "The actual attitude [of the protesters] is that Law and Justice is
   perfectly entitled to rule the country, but that they are not entitled
   to change the constitution, the rules of the game for which they have
   no mandate and no majority,'' he told The Associated Press.