Polish president calls for urgent talks amid Constitutional Tribunal crisis

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called for urgent talks with parliamentary groups early on Saturday to restore constitutional order, as a leadership dispute at the country's Constitutional Tribunal sparked protests and clashes with police, reported Xinhua.

Nawrocki's chief of staff, Pawel Szefernaker, read out the president's statement outside the Constitutional Tribunal, accusing those involved in the dispute of "forcibly occupying" the court and urging them to leave the building, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported.

Nawrocki cut short his trip to Senegal on Friday and returned to Poland. He entered the tribunal building early on Saturday and became involved in a heated confrontation with several judges, with pushing and shoving reported near the entrance.

He later left the building, while some judges remained inside, said the report.

These developments followed months of disputes over judicial appointments. Poland's parliament, where Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ruling coalition holds a majority, has elected eight judges to the tribunal this year. However, Nawrocki, an ally of the opposition Law and Justice party, accepted the oaths of office of only three.

The remaining five took their oaths at parliamentary ceremonies, but Nawrocki and the tribunal's president refused to recognize their status, thereby preventing them from assuming their judicial duties.

On Friday evening, the tribunal's website announced that its president and vice president had been suspended for one month, with a newly elected judge whose status remains disputed assuming temporary leadership. The tribunal's leadership rejected the move, accusing those involved of illegally taking over its website and describing the action as a "coup."

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside the Constitutional Tribunal on Friday. Police detained three protesters who entered the court's premises. Several people were injured, local media reported.