“The amendments introduced by Law and Justice do not alter the essential elements the President was concerned about,” presidential adviser and opposition activist under the Communist regime, Zofia Romaszewska, said on Friday. “Jarek [Kaczyński – ed.] believes one needs to shake it all up, to hold matters firmly in one's hand, and then everything will be great. In my opinion everything would be very bad this way,” she added.
Romaszewska, who was interviewed by Radio Zet on Friday morning, said that the amendments introduced by PiS to the President's draft bill on the judiciary branch “almost brought us back to where we started,” that is, to the point before the President's double veto against draft bills on the National Council of the Judiciary and on the Supreme Court. The amendments proposed by PiS “do not change the essential elements. They do not introduce anything very significant and do not change the essential elements that the President was concerned about,” she said. “The institution of extraordinary appeal has been eviscerated” and “does not resemble the President's proposal. The President will not agree to this, because it would mean that after a very complicated detour one party would end up appointing [judges – ed.],” she added. She stressed that if the PiS amendments were to be adopted, it would not even be one party, but “simply the Minister of Justice, the Prosecutor General, that would decide what the system of justice in our country looks like.” In her opinion, these PiS amendments should not be adopted and the President should not approve them. Asked if, in her opinion, PiS violated the rules of fair play in its dealings with the President, she replied: “I believe so.” She added that Andrzej Duda was not against the removal of “certain persons who did bad things in the past” from the Supreme Court, but “one must not adopt autocracy” in order to remove certain persons. “These amendments do not even grant the President a margin of trust, so that, in this transitional period, he could consider applications to extend someone's term of office by three years. Even this right was taken away from the President. Apparently, he was not deemed sufficiently trustworthy, and I have to say, from my point of view, this is especially offensive, since he is an exceptionally trustworthy man, in my view. I hope to God we always get such presidents,” Romaszewska told Radio Zet. She pointed out that the issue of the judiciary was not about a compromise in favor of the President, but about ensuring that “we have a good judiciary branch in our country.” She admitted that she “had a high opinion of PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński,” who was “close to her heart,” but in this case “she did not understand him at all.” “I am very sorry and I do not understand how one can act like this. All these political manipulations have been a failure,” stressed Romaszewska. “The current events are not about Mr. Andrzej Duda's ambition or Mr. Jarosław Kaczyński's ambition. Perhaps the latter, but I don't really believe it, because both men want to do something for the country. It is just that they cannot agree on how to do it,” she continued. “I think that Jarek [Kaczyński – ed.] believes that one needs to shake it all up, to hold matters firmly in one's hand, and then everything will be great. In my opinion everything would be very bad this way,” she added. Asked by Konrad Piasecki whether Jarosław Kaczyński “was no longer fully committed democrat in his heart, she replied: “Unfortunately, I am not sure whether he is still one. This is something I cannot assess.” Asked by the journalist whether PiS chairman “did not long for a more efficient, but less democratic state,” she replied: “Well, perhaps you are right. This worries me very much. I am really very, very, very worried because there have been many such situations in the history of our state and of neighboring states. I'd much rather we did not go down this path,” she added. In her opinion, one can still say that Poland is ruled democratically. “But it is true that things are beginning to turn in the wrong direction,” she said. Asked whether, in her opinion, those currently in power were not turning towards an authoritarian system, she replied that it was difficult to say. “My friend Jarosław has not made the final decision yet, and so I have no idea in what direction he is turning, but God forbid,” she said. However, she also acknowledged that courts operated “very badly”, were slow and “extremely unjust,” and therefore – in her opinion – a reform of the judiciary branch was necessary.
Źródło: tvn24.pl/tłumaczenie Intertext.com.pl