Nawrocki convenes National Security Council as dispute over Constitutional Tribunal escalates

Tribunal dispute takes over the session

President Karol Nawrocki convened the National Security Council (RBN) on Tuesday, 3 November, at the Presidential Palace. The session had been planned to cover the state and future of Polish security, including the strategic meaning of a permanent presence of United States troops in Poland. The conflict over the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), however, drew the most attention once the meeting began.

Nawrocki told the gathering that the government's actions since Friday, 30 October, had created a situation with no precedent since 1989. He said the government had made a political decision to take over the tribunal unlawfully, and that it had acted while he was out of the country. He added that he had cut short a foreign trip and returned to Warsaw.

“I will not move on to the agenda over the situation around the Constitutional Tribunal.”

He said he would use all his prerogatives and the mandate he claimed from society to stop what he called an attempt to overturn the constitutional order.

Allegations against the prime minister

Nawrocki said the government chose the night before the All Saints' holiday to bring into the tribunal people who call themselves judges of the court but, under the law, are not. He placed the blame on Prime Minister Donald Tusk, saying Tusk bears full responsibility for what he described as illegal acts, including the suspension of judges, illegal orders and entry into the tribunal from the side of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister (KPRM). He also accused Tusk of committing a crime against the Polish constitutional order and said the prime minister already knows he made a mistake. The president said Tusk's former allies were no longer beside him, leaving him only force, a charge that featured in the president's opening remarks.

“The government's actions toward the Constitutional Tribunal are without precedent.”

Who was in the room

The government and parliamentary side included Chief of the General Staff Wiesław Kukuła, Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński, Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański, Special Services Coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak, Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Senate Marshal Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. Parties sent their leaders or delegates: Jarosław Kaczyński and Mariusz Błaszczak for PiS, Zbigniew Konwiński for KO, Krzysztof Bosak for Konfederacja and Krzysztof Paszyk for PSL. Paulina Hennig-Kloska represented the Centrum club, Anna Maria Żukowska the Lewica club and Adrian Zandberg the Razem circle, while Mateusz Morawiecki and Marcin Horała attended for Rozwój Plus.

The invitation of politicians linked to Grzegorz Braun drew objections from the government side. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka said that, because of this, only information that was already public would be presented at the meeting.

Agenda and the closed format

Bartosz Grodecki, head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), announced the meeting in late October. He said the closed session would cover current national security matters and the construction of a permanent US military base in Poland. Under the council's composition, the Sejm and Senate marshals, the prime minister, the ministers of defence, interior and foreign affairs, the special services coordinator, the head of the President's Chancellery and the BBN head sit on it. Party leaders whose groups have a parliamentary club or circle may also take part, or send MPs, senators or MEPs in their place.