Polish president seeks to ban Communist Party through constitutional court

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has filed a motion with the Constitutional Tribunal to terminate the activities of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP).

A statement from the President’s Office indicated that Nawrocki based his request on the totalitarian methods and practices of communism.

Justification: Totalitarian methods and the assumption of violence

According to the newspaper Fakt, Nawrocki’s motion requests that the Constitutional Tribunal find the objectives in the KPP’s platform unconstitutional.

The justification provided is that the party’s platform is based on “the totalitarian methods and practices of communism, as well as the assumption that violence should be used to seize power and influence state policy.”

This is not the first attempt to dissolve the KPP. Five years ago, in 2020, then-Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro submitted a similar motion to the Constitutional Tribunal.

However, the hearing for that motion was postponed indefinitely after the applicant failed to appear at a hearing early last month.

KPP: Accusations are based on historical debates

The KPP responded to this motion with a document submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal in 2021.

The document, signed by Krzysztof Szwej, Chairman of the KPP’s National Executive Committee, stated that “the applicant’s entire narrative is based solely on historical debates and attempts to blame the modern KPP for all the faults of the previous system.”

The text also asserted that the previous system was “not communism, but an attempt to implement socialism, and its positive aspect was social reforms.”

Szwej emphasized that “the applicant has not pointed to a single statement in the KPP’s official documents concerning modern Poland that refers to totalitarian practices or proposes such solutions.”

What the law says

In Poland, political parties are required to register with the Registry Unit within the 7th Civil Division for Family, Civil, and Registry Affairs of the Warsaw District Court.

The Communist Party of Poland, which was registered in October 2002, is listed in this registry.

According to the Political Parties Act, if the Constitutional Tribunal rules that a political party’s objectives or activities are unconstitutional, the court orders the immediate removal of the party’s registration from the registry.