Poland's opposition blasts govm't ahead of assessment vote

People demonstrate on the 20th anniversary of Poland's constitution in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, April 2, 2017. The protest comes at a time that they and other poles fear the constitutional order in Poland is threatened by the country's populist government.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, right , and the powerful ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, second left, are taking a vote in parliament on the future of the government, in Warsaw , Poland, Friday, April 7, 2017. The government, which has a majority among lawmakers, easily survived the no-confidence vote, despite criticism by the opposition that it was taking Poland towards "dictatorship." (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

Poland's main opposition leader has accused the government of cutting the nation's ties with the Western world and leading it toward "dictatorship" and "bolshevism."

Grzegorz Schetyna was speaking in parliament Friday in a debate ahead of a vote assessing the populist government that was requested by his pro-Western party, Civic Platform. The vote is planned for later Friday. It could potentially overturn the government but is expected to fail given the ruling party's majority in parliament.

The Law and Justice government is under strong criticism from European Union leaders who say it is undermining Poland's rule of law and democracy.

Schetyna said it was taking the course of "dictatorial Russia."

The ruling party leader and mastermind of the government's policy, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, argued Poland needed deep change after Civic Platform rule.