Open hairdresser salons, restaurants, as well as mall kiosks are on the list of changes introduced on Monday under the third stage of economy "unfreezing" in Poland.

Poland's president appointed an ultra-conservative as new interim head of the Supreme Court on Friday after his predecessor resigned, deepening judicial and political turmoil ahead of a controversial presidential election.

Civic Coalition leadership selected the Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski as their new candidate for president of Poland. He has replaced Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska who resigned from running earlier that day.

"I won't take part in the presidential election," Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska announced on Friday. The candidate backed by Civic Coalition, once tipped as the main rival of incumbent Andrzej Duda, has seen a significant drop of support in recent polls and thus decided to quit the presidential race. Civic Platform leadership announced later on Friday that Rafał Trzaskowski would replace her as the new candidate.

"Fakty" TVN have learned that at 10am on Friday, the Civic Platform party is to announce a decision regarding its presidential candidate. Earlier on Thursday, senator Bogdan Zdrojewski admitted the situation regarding the election and the candidate wasn't easy. PO politicians unofficially speculate on potential replacements for Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. Asked if she wanted to keep running for presidency, the current candidate herself said: "We will be discussing this. It's crucial for us to stand together".

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal (TK) president rejected remarks by her German counterpart as "scandalous" after he was quoted in a newspaper questioning whether the court was truly independent of the Polish government. The spat is the latest escalation in a row kicked off by the German Constitutional Court's judgement last week that it could in some circumstances override rulings of the European Union's top court in Luxembourg.

Polish government on Wednesday (May 13) announced the third stage of easing coronavirus restrictions. From May 18 on, restaurants and hairdressers will be allowed to return to business. PM Morawiecki also said that schools would also partially reopen. Health minister informed that the coronavirus reproduction rate in Poland has fallen below 1.

Poland's lower house, the Sejm, controlled by the ruling party, voted in favour of the new draft law regarding presidential elections. The bill will now be discussed in the Senate - the upper chamber of parliament, where the opposition has a majority. Civic Platform MPs argue the legislation is unconstitutional and grants too much authority to the parliament speaker.

The environment minister said at the weekend that the Polish government was working on introducing regulations that would oblige non-governmental organisations to reveal all foreign funding sources. Critics of the cabinet led by the nationalist Law and Justice party raised concerns saying the move may in fact be aimed to discredit and censure the NGOs that disapprove the government's agenda.

The latest legislation proposed by the ruling coalition led by Law and Justice (PiS) on Monday (May 11) assumes the presidential election to be conducted both traditionally, at polling stations, and through postal ballot for those who prefer this method. The coalition hopes the so-called "hybrid voting" will be backed by the opposition.

On Sunday, May 10, millions of Poles were supposed to cast their votes in order to elect their president for the next five years. Yet, after drawn-out and controversial preparations, conducted by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the widely contested vote did not come to fruition. It was supposed to be the first-ever election done by postal ballot. The body responsible for carrying out elections in Poland, the National Electoral Commission (PKW), informed on Sunday evening that the lower house speaker had two weeks to schedule a new date for the presidential vote.

The 2020 presidential election in Poland will not take place on May 10 as originally scheduled, the National Electoral Commission (PKW) informed late on Thursday. Although the lower house of parliament has approved the election to be carried out through postal voting, it remains unclear when exactly will it be held.

The Polish lower house of parliament, the Sejm, approved on Thursday government-sponsored legislation that would allow the country's presidential election to go ahead by postal ballot, according to voting records.

Less than four days before the planned presidential election in Poland, it is still unclear if the voting will actually take place as scheduled, and if not, then when. President Duda's aide said on Wednesday that he couldn't rule out postponement of the vote, or even dissolving of the parliament followed by a snap election, should the lawmakers fail to find majority to carry out a postal ballot. The crisis has worried the EU executive who on Wednesday discussed the issue and urged Poland to ensure "free and fair" election.

Poland's opposition-controlled upper house, the Senate, rejected a legislation put forward by the ruling party, that would allow presidential election to be carried out by postal voting on Sunday, May 10. The bill will now return to the lower house, the Sejm, which is likely to vote on it very soon.

The Senate will decide whether to approve or reject a proposal by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to carry out presidential election as scheduled on Sunday, May 10, but through postal ballot. Depending on the upper house's decision, there are a number of possible scenarios that might unfold with regard to the election.

The speaker of Poland's upper house of the parliament, the Senate, Tomasz Grodzki criticised the ruling Law and Justice party for using what he referred to as a "procedural trickery", in order to carry out presidential election scheduled for Sunday, May 10. The opposition has called for the introduction of a state of natural disaster to allow the election to be postponed.

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for State Assets, Jacek Sasin, told private station Radio Zet on Monday that the presidential election set to take place on Sunday (May 10) has become difficult to organise. According to Sasin, opposition-controlled upper house, the Senate, is to blame for such state of affairs.

"The procedure of voting by post in this form and time, as is proposed by the ruling party, are pseudo-elections. We will not take part" - former Polish presidents and prime ministers wrote in an open letter published on Twitter on Thursday.

The First President of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Małgorzata Gersdorf is stepping down as her six-year tenure comes to an end on April 30. Professor Gersdorf, an outspoken critic of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party's overhaul of Polish justice system, will be replaced by a candidate picked by President Andrzej Duda, an ally of PiS.

The Commissioner for Human Rights, Adam Bodnar, filed a protest on Wednesday at a Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw against Polish government's plan to carry out presidential election on May 10. The ombudsman argued the government's request for the Polish post office to prepare for a postal ballot was illegal because the relevant bill has not yet been approved by parliament.

The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure by sending a Letter of Formal Notice to Poland regarding the new law on the judiciary of 20 December 2019, which entered into force on 14 February 2020. "The new law on the judiciary undermines the judicial independence of Polish judges and is incompatible with the primacy of EU law," the EU executive wrote in a statement.

Polish government announced on Wednesday that hotels and shopping malls would be allowed to reopen from on May 4. Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski said that recently more people in Poland have been recovering from COVID-19 than contracting the coronavirus. By Wednesday, Poland had reported 12,415 cases and 606 deaths.

"Basic human decency" should stop Poles from voting in a presidential election scheduled for May 10, Donald Tusk, the leader of the centre-right European People's Party and former Polish prime minister, said on Tuesday (April 28). In a video posted on Twitter, Tusk said he thought PiS could be persuaded to work on an alternative election plan that would be "safe and fundamentally fair," adding that he would not cast his vote.

The Ministry of Health informed on Monday morning about 144 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and death of four infected persons. In total, SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in 11,761 people so far in Poland, of which 539 have died. Another set of restrictions could be lifted soon, as long as the number of infections keeps on a steady level, the ministry said. The Monetary Policy Council chief, Jerzy Kropiwnicki, said on Monday that Polish interest rates could be hiked within several months.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Saturday (April 25) outdoor sport areas would be reopened on May 4. Furthermore, Poland's football and speedway top flights have been green-lighted to resume season from end of May and mid-June respectively.

Mandator two-week coronavirus quarantine imposed on people crossing Polish borders has sparked protests of hundreds Poles working abroad. Many of them staged protests at border crossings with Germany and the Czech Republic.

As Poland's presidential election is approaching fast, critics of holding the vote under extreme circumstances caused by the coronavirus crisis do not stop raising concerns as to the fairness and transparency of such event. The ruling Law and Justice party keeps on reassuring a postal ballot would secure absolute safety for the citizens and guarantee democratic standards. Recent polls indicate the incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, would win the May 10 vote by a landslide. According to the Civic Platform party leader, Borys Budka, the surveys only show opposition voters do not want to take part in a postal vote.

"We should be in the Green Deal and not stand aside," opposition Civic Platform's presidential candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said on Wednesday. She reassured, during a radio debate on climate, Poland could achieve zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 or even earlier. Poland is the only EU member state not to have signed the so-called Green Deal.