Poland is trying to restore the rule of law without violating it

SINCE DECEMBERKOPS Kalina Ostrowska has been coming home from school and doing something that would shock most parents of 16-year-olds: she turns on the television and watches the Sejm, Poland’s parliament. Lots of her friends are watching, too. Young Poles have become strangely interested in politics. In the election last October turnout among those under 30, who normally vote at low rates, reached 69%, not far below the overall figure of 74%. They overwhelmingly backed the opposition, helping Donald Tusk and his centrist Civic Coalition () to beat the hard-right Law and Justice (i) party that had run Poland for eight years.One reason the Sejm makes such good television is its new speaker, Szymon Holownia. Mr Holownia, who leads the centre-right Poland 2050 party (now part of Mr Tusk’s alliance), is a long-time talk-show host and master showman. “It’s funny when the opposition protests and Holownia shuts them up with some pointed retort,” says Ms Ostrowska. Yet the main reason to watch is the riveting conflict playing out in Poland’s government.