Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party leaves government today following its defeat in last month’s national election. Donald Tusk will become prime minister.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Today in Poland, a vote in parliament ended eight years of rule by the right-wing Law and Justice Party, heralding a historic transfer of power. Today’s parliamentary proceedings were so anticipated that hundreds watched them on the big screen in one of Warsaw’s biggest cinemas. NPR’s Rob Schmitz joined them.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: At Warsaw’s Kinoteka theater inside the city’s massive Soviet-era Palace of Culture and Science, audiences can choose from Ridley Scott’s biopic about Napoleon, Scorsese’s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” or Hollywood’s latest reincarnation of Willy Wonka. But today’s big-ticket show was Poland’s parliament.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI: (Speaking Polish).
(LAUGHTER)
SCHMITZ: This feature had it all – heroes, villains, laugh-out-loud flashes of comedy and the tragedy of defeat, all of it broadcast live from just blocks away.
LUKASZ KARAS: (Speaking Polish).
SCHMITZ: “I’m glad I came,” says Lukasz Karas, an IT worker in Warsaw. He says people are laughing, clapping and booing whenever the outgoing prime minister utters a lie. I didn’t expect it to be this fun. Karas, who also plays bass in a punk band and sports a green mohawk, eats from a tub of popcorn. It’s 11:30 in the morning, and he’s heading to the concession counter to buy his fifth beer. Watching Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has made Karas thirsty, and it’s reminded him how much he despised the Law and Justice-led government.
KARAS: (Non-English language spoken).
SCHMITZ: “They nearly ruined our democracy,” he says. “They brought it all down, and it’ll take years to rebuild. They’re fascists,” he scowls.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MORAWIECKI: (Speaking Polish).
SCHMITZ: Inside the theater, Morawiecki is finishing his speech, advising the next government that it needs to stick to democratic norms. This coming from a man who the European Union says oversaw the dismantling of Poland’s democratic institutions, is, to this audience, like an Oscar-worthy performance.
… (transcript continues) …
Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.