Polish president signs disputed budget, win for ruling party

Polish president signs disputed budget, win for ruling party | iNFOnews.ca
A general view of the parliament session hall as opposition lawmakers gather around the podium with a list of ten freedoms that they say are violated by the ruling party, as they end their protest, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Opposition parties blocked the session hall since Dec. 16 to protest a budget that according to them was passed illegally. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s president has signed into law the 2017 budget, which the centrist opposition denounces as illegal.

The budget has been the focus of a bitter dispute between the populist ruling Law and Justice party and the opposition parties Civic Platform and Modern, which say the way it was passed by the lower house of parliament on Dec. 16 was illegal.

They staged a blockade of parliament for nearly four weeks demanding a repeat vote but gave up their protest this week.

Still, they appealed to President Andrzej Duda to not sign it and instead send it to the constitutional Tribunal for review.

Duda, who is aligned with the ruling party, signed the budget Friday.

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