Polish Ambassador to China Resigns Over Constitutional Tribunal Crisis
Jakub Kumoch, Poland's ambassador to China, has announced his resignation, saying he can no longer perform his duties given events at home. The political crisis over Poland's Constitutional Tribunal continues to escalate.
Poland's ambassador to China, Jakub Kumoch, announced on 31 October that he is stepping down. He cited developments surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal, Poland's top court for constitutional review, which has become the focus of a sharp dispute between Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government and the camp of President Karol Nawrocki.
In a post on X, Kumoch said that, in light of events in the country, continuing as ambassador of the Republic of Poland was no longer possible for him. He said he had submitted his resignation and asked to be relieved of his post.
The presidential team backed the decision. Marcin Przydacz, head of the International Policy Bureau at the president's office, wrote that the ambassador was leaving because of what he described as law-breaking by the government and an attack on the Tribunal, calling the move an act of responsibility. Przydacz noted that Kumoch had previously served as Poland's ambassador to Switzerland and Turkey and had headed the international policy bureau in the president's chancellery.
How the crisis unfolded
On the evening of 30 October it emerged that the Tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, had been suspended. However, the Tribunal's own X account stated that the court's website had been seized and that Święczkowski was continuing to carry out his duties. President Nawrocki cancelled a visit to Senegal and returned urgently to Poland.
An opposition rally took place outside the Tribunal building. Protesters, including Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, broke through the gates and tried to force their way into the building. Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek said he had filed five requests with the Tribunal to lift immunity, including for Święczkowski and his deputy.
Background to the dispute
Tusk's government sought to reform the court and appoint new judges. President Nawrocki refused to swear in three of the six judges chosen by parliament, while Święczkowski refused to let judges elected by the current parliamentary majority begin work. Poland's prosecutor's office had earlier asked to question Nawrocki as a witness in an investigation into stripping Constitutional Tribunal judges of the right to rule on cases.
