30% of Poles back reforming the Constitutional Tribunal, while 27% are undecided

The poll results

An Opinia24 survey commissioned by RMF FM asked Poles which option would suit the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) best. The most common answer, chosen by 30%, was reform of the court with its panel selected afresh. Another 19% preferred that it keep working under Anna Korwin-Piotrowska or another judge chosen by the current Sejm majority, while 12% wanted it to stay under Bogdan Święczkowski. Nine percent favoured abolishing the tribunal and replacing it with a new institution.

Reform and new panel30%

Keep under Korwin-Piotrowska or Sejm-chosen judge19%

Keep under Święczkowski12%

Abolish and replace9%

None of these4%

Don't know27%

Reform and new panel

30 %

Keep under Korwin-Piotrowska or Sejm-chosen judge

19 %

Keep under Święczkowski

12 %

Abolish and replace

9 %

None of these

4 %

Don't know

27 %

Data from the article text

A large group of respondents did not pick a side. 27% answered that they did not know, and 4% said none of the offered options was right. Fieldwork ran from 2 to 4 November using a mixed CATI/CAWI method on a representative sample of 1,001 adult Poles. The results, published on 10 November, show that reform leads without a majority and that much of the public has not settled on a position.

Men and women see the court differently

The poll shows a clear gap between men and women. 37% of men chose reform and a new panel, against 23% of women. Women were far more likely to be undecided, with 36% giving that answer compared with 17% of men. Support for leadership under Korwin-Piotrowska or a Sejm-chosen judge was close, at 20% of women and 17% of men. Backing for Święczkowski's leadership stood at 15% among men and 9% among women, while 11% of men and 7% of women favoured abolition.

Men, reform37%

Women, reform23%

Men, undecided17%

Women, undecided36%

Men, reform

37 %

Women, reform

23 %

Men, undecided

17 %

Women, undecided

36 %

Data from the article text

Party electorates pull in different directions

The breakdown by party electorate points to sharp splits between political camps. Among PiS voters, 45% backed the court staying under Święczkowski. Among KO voters, 61% wanted Korwin-Piotrowska's leadership. Confederation voters were the strongest supporters of reform, at 64%. The question therefore divides political camps as well as men and women.

The dispute around the court

The poll comes during an ongoing political and legal dispute over the tribunal. Demonstrators have gathered in front of the court for several weeks, opposing what the reporting describes as a forcible takeover of the institution by the current government. A rally by Gazeta Polska clubs has become a symbol of that resistance. Bogdan Święczkowski, the court's president, appears in front of the building each day but is not admitted by the people who took over the institution. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, whom the report calls a usurper, has called a general assembly for 10 November to discuss changes to the court's rules.