EU warns Poland to protect 'rule of law' from reforms

The European Union warned eastern European powerhouse Poland to avoid endangering the rule of law with controversial reforms that former president Lech Walesa said undermined democracy and made the country a laughing stock.
A European Commission letter -- seen today by AFP -- to Poland's foreign and justice ministers, urges the reforms not be "finally adopted or put into force" until all questions about their impact "have been fully and properly assessed."
Parliament yesterday adopted -- by 235 votes to 181 with four abstentions -- reforms to the Constitutional Court which have provoked an avalanche of criticism at home and abroad.

Thousands of people demonstrated in Poland's capital Warsaw and other cities last weekend ahead of the vote, accusing the conservative government of undermining democracy.
Ex-president Walesa, who led the Solidarity movement that brought an end to communism in Poland, lashed out today at the policies of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) which pushed through the reforms.
He added his voice to an increasingly large chorus of criticism at home and abroad against the actions of the EU country's new government, by calling for a referendum to force early elections.

"This government is acting against Poland's interests, against freedom, against democracy, and is ridiculing us around the world," Walesa said on Radio Zet.

"I am ashamed to travel abroad."
Calling for a referendum on a new election, he said: "We must show that two thirds (of society) is against this type of rule and must shorten (parliament's) term."
Poland has been plunged into a political crisis by the actions of the Pis since the party led by staunch conservative ex-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski won an absolute majority in an October vote.
The new law raises the bar for the court's rulings from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority, while requiring 13 judges to be present instead of nine for the most contentious cases.

Poland's Supreme Court has said the new law interferes with the court's independence and aims to hinder its proper functioning.
The law introduces obligatory waiting periods of three to six months between the time a request for a ruling is made and a verdict, compared with two weeks currently.