Demonstrators hold Polish and E.U. flags during a protest outside the parliament building in Warsaw on Dec. 17. Poland is gripped by its most severe constitutional crisis since the Communist regime declared martial law in 1981, with protesters – both inside parliament and outside in the freezing streets – accusing the ruling party of threatening democracy. Law and Justice , the party in power, has roots in the dissident trade union Solidarity, which helped bring down the Communist regime.