The crisis at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal came to a head on Friday, when Prime Minister Donald Tusk moved to remake the court, whose president was appointed by the previous government, the far-right Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, was suspended after refusing to allow a new member nominated by Tusk and approved by Parliament to take his seat. President Karol Nawrocki described the removal as “a forcible takeover of a constitutional body,” abandoned a trip to Africa and headed straight back to the tribunal, in Warsaw. On Tuesday, the eight judges backed by Tusk’s coalition planned to meet to approve the tribunal’s budget and consider disciplinary proceedings against Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. The parliamentary election is due next year, with the constitutional order and the direction of European integration at the center of the dispute.