Poland: Conservatives Really Don’t Like Being Called Communists

Marking the 35th anniversary of the imposition of martial law by the Communist regime, thousands marched in anti-government demonstrations across Poland to protest the rightwing Law and Justice Party, or PiS. “History has come full circle,” a former anti-Communist dissident told protestors at the beginning of the demonstration. Leaders of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, or KOD, organized the “citizens’ strike” to compare ruling rightwing PiS to the Communists, arguing that both have attempted to dismantle the country’s independent democratic institutions. The comparison is particularly biting, since many members of the PiS party were part of the opposition Solidarity movement, which the Communist regime tried to crush under martial law. For that reason, KOD was successful in grabbing their attention, and took the opportunity to highlight Poland’s planned setbacks for women’s rights this year, as well as reforms to education.