WARSAW, Poland – Protests against the government caused by the tightening of Poland’s strict abortion law took place in one day in the predominantly Catholic nation.
Residents of many cities have ignored a restriction on the virus that restricts public meetings to up to five people. The marches, some of them silently, took place on Sunday in the cities of Szczecin, Wroclaw, Krakow, Lodz, but not in Poland. Warsaw, where some 100,000 were demonstrating on Friday.
Some protesters carried chrysanthemums and memorial candles to remind them that Sunday was All Saints’ Day, a national holiday, and Poles could not stop at their relatives’ graves because the government closed all cemeteries due to the rapid spread of the virus.
Drawing on banner slogans and chants from recent protests, Women’s Strike, the organization leading the protests, outlined spaces beyond abortion rights that it said required urgent change.
They come with broader rights for women and the LGBT community, the separation of the state from Poland’s influential Catholic Church, more investment in fitness care, and better work situations for young people.
Hundreds of thousands of poles, mostly young people, have protested against the right-wing government and the ruling Law and Justice Party since the country’s Constitutional Court ruled on 22 October to annul a provision of the Polish abortion law that legalizes abortion. congenital fetuses, default values.
They are chanting the resignation of the law government and the judiciary, which has been in force since 2015. Government measures to the judicial system, a new animal rights law, and statements of opposition to LGBT rights through senior officials have created political divisions. and protests even before the abortion decision.
Other demonstrations, led by women’s rights activists, are scheduled for next week. There is no sign of possible negotiations between activists and government officials.
Alarmed by emerging tensions, an organization of some two hundred retired generals from the Polish armed forces, the border patrol company and other security agencies expressed “deep concern” at recent decisions made by the country’s leaders on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. . leads to social discontent and protests.
They called on politicians, protesters and security forces to show calm and wisdom.
Retired generals warned that “the continued escalation of movements and irresponsible behavior of politicians will lead to tragic and irreversible consequences” such as “bloodshed. “
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