Tens of thousands of opposition supporters massed outside Poland’s parliament on Thursday to protest against the new government’s changes to state media and the imprisonment of two former ministers convicted of abuse of power, writes Reuters.

The march reflects mounting tensions in the country as the new pro-European Union coalition government led by Donald Tusk tries to undo the policies of the previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party administration.

It also came as President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, said he had started proceedings to pardon the two ministers in the last government who were jailed this week for abuse of power, escalating his own stand-off with the new government.

“We have to win this great battle for a sovereign, independent Poland”, - PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told the crowd.

A sea of red and white Polish flags stretched back from the parliament, interspersed with placards with slogans such as “We survived the Russians, we’ll survive Tusk”. Some chanted Duda’s name and “We will win!”

State-run news agency PAP cited Warsaw city hall as putting the number of people in the crowd at around 35,000, while a PiS spokesman put the figure at almost 200,000.