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| - Poland's president on Tuesday condemned comments from human rights chief Adam Bodnar as "anti-Polish" after the latter told AFP in an interview that the EU member risked becoming "undemocratic". Bodnar had criticised the EU for its slow response to Poland's rule of law violations, accusing the right-wing populists in power in Warsaw of "trying to incapacitate or take over" levers of power. Rulings such as the upcoming Constitutional Court decision on whether EU or Polish law should have primacy are "a pushing of boundaries in the direction of an undemocratic state", he said. President Andrzej Duda, who is closely allied with the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, told reporters that Bodnar's view was "unsupported by objective facts" and "part of a political battle". He added: "It's too bad that by voicing such general slogans, which actually in my opinion are simply anti-Polish and from a Polish perspective anti-state, he doesn't provide any concrete facts that would allow him to put forth such a claim." Poland has "absolutely undisputed democratic elections" at all levels, he said. After Duda's reelection last year, observers from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said the vote was "tarnished" by biased coverage on public television. Duda said Bodnar's comments showed that it was "of utmost urgency" that Poland find a new ombudsman. Bodnar was appointed just before the PiS government took power and his five-year term formally expired in September 2020. But he has stayed on because the lower house of parliament, where the PiS and its smaller coalition partners hold a majority, and the opposition-controlled Senate have failed to agree on a successor. Last month, the Constitutional Court ruled that Bodnar's extension was not compatible with the constitution, giving him three months to leave. It is unclear what would happen if no replacement is found. Bodnar sees the row over the position as a natural progression of the ruling party's strategy. The PiS wants to ensure the next ombudsman "isn't too independent, too capable of continually checking those in power", he told AFP. amj/dt/jj
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