Poland's political, constitutional crisis explained: 5 events that led up to coup attempt
5. Standoff at the tribunal, October 2026
In September, Maciej Berek was sworn in at parliament as well, having received no invitation from Nawrocki. Święczkowski refused to recognize oaths taken without the president and kept some of the newly elected judges from hearing cases.
Korwin-Piotrowska ordered the one-month suspension of Święczkowski and Sochański on Oct. 30, citing rules on temporarily removing judges from duty. She said the step was needed to get the tribunal working and let every judge elected by parliament do the job.
The court's leadership called the order unlawful. It said the law gave no grounds to suspend the tribunal's president, and judges who had not taken the oath before the head of state were not full members.
Scuffles broke out when seven judges entered the building with an escort from the State Protection Service. Nawrocki, who was flying to Senegal, turned back. "At such a moment, the President must be in Poland," he wrote on X, Fox News reported.
Late Friday night, Nawrocki went to the tribunal and said he had helped Święczkowski get into the building. Video posted by Berek showed the president pushing past Korwin-Piotrowska at the doors. Inside, Nawrocki told her and others, “You are not Constitutional Tribunal judges.” A presidential aide accused Korwin-Piotrowska and Markiewicz of violating the president’s inviolability, which Berek denied. An aide read out Nawrocki’s statement, which called the events “a forcible takeover of a constitutional body.”
Dozens of police guarded the entrance as PiS supporters rallied for the two suspended judges. Some prayed, and others carried signs reading "Stop destroying the state." Police held three people after objects were thrown at officers and some in the crowd tried to force their way past the security fence.
Nawrocki then called party representatives to the presidential palace for talks, citing "the threat to internal security." Tusk's Civic Coalition stayed away. The Left, a member of the governing coalition, said it received no invitation and would have declined one, since it regarded Nawrocki as involved in the conflict.
No breakthrough came by Saturday afternoon. Nawrocki was also due to meet Zbigniew Kapiński, the Supreme Court’s first president.
Korwin-Piotrowska called a meeting of all tribunal judges for Nov. 3.
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tusk "will stop at nothing to cling to power" and rejected "Belarusian methods." His Rozwój Plus coalition is pitching itself as a rival to the government before parliamentary elections next November.
Ziobro wrote on X that "a coup d'état is underway" and called for resistance. U.S. Ambassador Tom Rose urged all sides to avoid any step that could provoke violence. "The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse," he said.
