“You have wasted two years of our lives. We are coming for you, fraudsters!” with these words, Solidarity leader Piotr Duda summed up two years of Donald Tusk’s government, announcing a new wave of protests. Over the past two years, numerous social and professional groups have taken to the streets of Polish cities to express their opposition to the policies of the December 13 coalition. As Piotr Lisiewicz writes in the latest issue of Gazeta Polska, unlike the protests during the Law and Justice (PiS) governments, which were organized mainly by extremely ideologized circles, the current revolt has a labor-oriented and independence-focused character. At the same time, it is met with brutal repression by the state apparatus, which only exacerbates the situation and mobilizes further groups.
A symbolic example of the unequal treatment of protesters is the case of Krzysztof Jurgowian, a young resident of Wrocław, sentenced for chanting the satirical slogan “Don’t be afraid of Tusk!” The court ignored the fact that similar demonstrations had taken place all over Poland, and the prosecution additionally charged him with an alleged assault on a police officer – a charge of which he was acquitted thanks to video footage. This case, as the author demonstrates, shows that while vulgar protests against PiS enjoyed judicial protection, participants in today’s demonstrations are being repressed.
The harshest repression was directed at farmers, whose nationwide protest enjoyed broad public support, reaching 78 percent. Their marches in Warsaw, such as the one on March 6, 2024, were pacified using tear gas and police provocations. Photos circulated in the media showing an officer spraying a farmer in the face with gas from close range. These protests also resulted in a tragic loss: in December 2024, 25-year-old farmer Michał Sołdan took his own life. During the March demonstrations, he had been brutally treated by the police. “Somewhere inside him all of this stayed, and apparently he couldn’t cope with it, because according to information from the family, he went through hell in that detention,” Tomasz Obszański, chairman of the NSZZ Individual Farmers’ Solidarity, told the TV Republika portal.
The rebellion against the authorities, however, extended to much broader circles. There were high-profile protests by miners in defense of Jastrzębska Coal Company, by laid-off workers of PKP Cargo, and by employees of the Polish Post. Demonstrations by football fans were also of great significance, and the slogan coined by Legia Warsaw supporters – “Anyone but Trzaskowski” – contributed to a large extent to mobilizing the young electorate against the Civic Coalition’s candidate in the presidential election.
A symbol of youthful resistance also became the “Zorro manifesto,” which appeared on a rooftop during a Trzaskowski rally in Tarnów, provoking further protest actions.