Thousands attend an anti-government rally organized by Poland’s main opposition party

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people attended an anti-government rally organized by Poland’s nationalist conservative opposition party to boost support before next year’s presidential election.

Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called on supporters to be active at social and political levels and to back the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. He hasn’t yet named the candidate.

Kaczynski also accused the pro-European Union government of acting against the nation’s interests and violating its laws and cited recently opened investigations into allegations of mismanagement and corruption of the Law and Justice government.

Up to 4,000 people with national white-and-red flags gathered for the rally held in windy weather outside the Justice Ministry in Warsaw, which has become a symbol of years of deep rifts between the backers of Kaczynski and Donald Tusk, now the prime minister and leader of the center-right Civic Platform party.

Law and Justice, which governed Poland for nearly a decade from 2015 until 2023, drew criticism from Brussels and Tusk alike for making changes to Poland’s judicial system that were deemed undemocratic.

Many in the nation of 38 million people were also tired of the aggressive and divisive language that Kaczynski, who dictated the government’s policies from the sidelines, used to energize support.

The party lost power in the 2023 election, but is still exerting control through President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with Law and Justice. Duda, whose second and last term runs out in August, has been blocking many of the government’s draft laws.

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