On Sunday, 5 October, PiS MP Janusz Kowalski publicly apologized to President Andrzej Duda on TVRepublika, criticizing his vetoes and calling for a change in the president’s book title.
Apology and Critique
“I. I’m sorry, Andrzej Duda,” Janusz Kowalski opened on TVRepublika, quoting the title of his own forthcoming book. He then blamed President Duda for vetoing the laws concerning the Supreme Court and the KRS, claiming the decision leaves “a cast and post‑communists in courts who laugh at us.”
According to Kowalski, he was frightened, did not sign the bills, and would have preferred to speak with Ursula von der Leyen instead of Zbigniew Ziobro. He admitted regret for having been involved, and urged Duda to rename his book from “I am. Andrzej Duda” to “I am. I’m sorry, Andrzej Duda.”
Targets for 2027 Parliamentary Elections
Kowalski called for the removal of right‑wing politicians with attitudes similar to Duda’s by the 2027 parliamentary elections. He described them as “softies” and likened the task to excising a tumor so that Poland could become a “normal” state, promising a radical, fast, modern, and honest approach.
Duda’s Vetoes and Signing Decisions
In 2017, President Duda vetoed two proposed laws over concerns that the Prosecutor General’s oversight of the Supreme Court would conflict with Poland’s constitutional tradition. He emphasized that the court’s rules should not be set by the Prosecutor General.
Despite vetoing the proposals, Duda later signed the Act on General Courts, which expanded the powers of the Justice Minister and the then–Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro.
Expansion of Ministerial and Prosecutorial Powers
Following the Act on General Courts, the Justice Minister could dismiss presidents and vice presidents of general courts without citing a reason and subsequently appoint replacements, according to analysis by OKOPress.
