The Polish Left has said it will not take part in talks with President Karol Nawrocki, after an overnight attempt to take control of the Constitutional Court and his subsequent call for party leaders to meet him at the Presidential Palace. According to Wiadomości Onet, the conversations were scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, 31 October 2026.
The refusal was announced on X by Left MP Tomasz Trela. In a post quoted by Wiadomości Onet, he said the party would hold no consultations with the president, adding a pointed remark that the previous night had brought back an earlier version of Karol Nawrocki.
Why it matters
The standoff puts the president and one of the country's parliamentary groupings on a collision course at a moment when the dispute over the Constitutional Court has moved from legal argument to physical confrontation.
Wiadomości Onet reports that a demonstration was under way outside the court building after people elected by the current Sejm as judges made an attempt to take over the institution. During the night, Nawrocki and representatives of the Presidential Chancellery entered the building, according to the same outlet.
The Left's decision means the round of talks the president announced will open without at least one of the invited groups, weakening the appearance of a broad consultation. Other parties had not been reported as declining at the time of writing.
How the night unfolded
According to Wiadomości Onet, the sequence began with the attempt by the newly elected judges to assume control of the court, which prompted the protest outside. The president and his chancellery staff then went into the building overnight.
Several hours later, the head of the presidential cabinet read out a statement in which Nawrocki summoned representatives of the political forces to a meeting. The talks were set for 1 p.m. at the Presidential Palace, Wiadomości Onet reports.
The Left's response came in that interval. Trela's post, as cited by the outlet, framed the refusal as a matter of principle rather than scheduling, tying it directly to the president's conduct during the night.
A dispute that has left the courtroom
The events described by Wiadomości Onet mark a sharp escalation in a conflict that has centred on the composition and legitimacy of the Constitutional Court. The attempt by judges chosen by the current Sejm to take over the institution, and the president's decision to enter the building before dawn, place the presidency itself at the centre of the confrontation rather than at its edges.
The demonstration outside the court continued as the palace prepared to receive party leaders. The outlet's live coverage does not give figures for the crowd or describe the mood beyond confirming that the protest was ongoing.
The Left's statement also signals that the political response to the night's events will not be uniform. By publicly ruling out consultations, the party has chosen to treat the president's invitation as part of the dispute rather than as a route out of it.
What to watch
Attention now turns to the 1 p.m. meeting at the Presidential Palace: which party leaders attend, what the president says to those who do, and whether the Left's refusal is followed by others. Wiadomości Onet is carrying the developments in a live report.
