Poland political crisis: Constitutional court in chaos as Nawrocki accuses government of staging power grab

Key Points:

• A confrontation erupted outside Poland's Constitutional Tribunal after the suspension of the court's president, escalating a prolonged conflict between the government and Tribunal judges appointed under the previous PiS administration.
• Polish President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal to return to Warsaw, calling the takeover of the Tribunal a breach of constitutional order and announcing plans for emergency talks with political leaders to stabilize the situation.
• Seven judges appointed by the Sejm entered the Tribunal building, displacing security staff and barring access to the incumbent president and vice-president, with Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska declaring herself leader and suspending the current president.
• Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek criticized President Nawrocki's actions as alarming and called for the Tribunal to resume normal operations, while protests involving PiS leaders and right-wing supporters took place outside the Tribunal, with warnings of a slide toward a police state.
• The standoff has drawn sharp political divisions, with PiS figures condemning the events as an attack on the Tribunal and suggesting the crisis could harm the government's international image.