Poland’s democratic spring: the fightback starts here. By Christian Davies
From air quality to
sex education and corruption, citizens across the country are taking on the
authorities – and winning
Back when Anna Gryta and Elżbieta Wąs started a
local campaign to preserve a town square in south-east Poland, they had no idea it
would turn them into potent symbols of democratic revival. But almost 10 years
since their success in Lubartów, the sisters have become figureheads for
thousands of Poles determined to secure the clean, democratic governance
promised to them in the wake of the collapse of communism 30 years ago.
It’s a surprising
revelation. Poland has become a byword for nationalist populism in recent years
as the ruling Law and Justice party defies European democratic norms with
its assault on the media and the courts. But away from the limelight, there is
a flourishing grassroots movement against the flaws in the country’s democratic
culture on which the populists feed. Tight groups of civic activists are
notching up success after success across the country on a vast range of
different issues – from sex education to air quality and the rule of law, from
cycle lanes and public spaces to transparency and participation in local
decision-making processes.
“Something is
happening, something has changed,” says Patryk Białas, an environmental
campaigner recently elected to the city council in the south-western city of
Katowice. In the eastern region
of Podlasie, local activists recently ran a disciplined, sophisticated and
ultimately successful campaign against illegal state-sanctioned logging in the Białowieża forest. In
Silesia, Poland’s industrial south-west, residents forced the closure of a
toxic coking plant last year. In Poznań, in the north-west, citizens are
campaigning to publicise allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic church. In
Warsaw, a group of parents are running a campaign to put pressure on local
authorities to combat the city’s terrible air quality... read more:
