Poland Ex-Leaders: Gov Hurts Democracy

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Three former Polish presidents and other prominent former leaders are accusing the right-wing government of demolishing the country's democracy and its international standing. They are also urging lawmakers to disregard what they call the "draconian" new legislation the government is proposing.

The appeal Monday on the front page of the Gazeta Wyborcza daily was signed by former presidents Lech Walesa, Aleksander Kwasniewski and Bronislaw Komorowski, as well as former Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and six others.

They said the ruling Law and Justice party "has no intention of abandoning this path of demolishing the constitutional order" and appealed to all Poles to observe the constitution.

Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski has responded by saying it's "absurd" to suggest that Poland's democracy is threatened, calling that the authors' "private opinion."

(KA)