Hundreds of thousands of Poles took to the streets today to protest "against the cost of living, the lies of power and corruption" and, ahead of next autumn's parliamentary elections, in favor of "a democratic, tolerant, and European Poland". "The first thing to do to start the road to victory is to do the math to know how many we are," historic Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, Poland's first democratically elected president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, told them in his opening speech at the march. And the organizers and the town hall of the capital then did the math: half a million participants, probably the highest number since the end of communism, after the democratic turn of 1989.
Calling on Poles to take to the streets was Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014, as well as President of the European Council between 2014 and 2019, who has now become the leader of the largest opposition party. These days Tusk seems to be more than ever in the crosshairs of Jaroslaw Kaczynski's conservative party, in government, which wanted a law, already accepted by parliament, which is not by chance called by the media 'lex anti Tusk'.
It is a text that aims to exclude from public life the political exponents responsible for the "Russian influence" on Polish internal security between the years 2007 and 2022. President Andrzej Duda signed it last week only to - following harsh criticism, starting with that of US President Joe Biden and the European Parliament - to back down by tabling a series of amendments.
"This is my oath in front of you: I will lead you to victory" in the upcoming elections, Tusk told the crowd at the end of the demonstration, which finally gathered in Royal Castle Square, with hundreds of Polish and European flags. The former premier also pledged for "a showdown" claiming that today's demonstration has given new hope to Polish society "despite the divisions sown by power in recent years".
The date of June 4 was not chosen at random. Poland celebrates the Day of Freedom and Civil Rights, as it is the anniversary of the first partially free elections followed by the defeat of communism in Europe, won by Solidarity. But beyond any symbolism, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized the protests, comparing them to a "circus" and saying it makes it "a little laughable when old foxes who have been in politics for years organize an anti-government march and present it as a spontaneous civic protest."
