Story highlights Citing "judicial reform," ruling party aims to curtail independence of courts

EU threatens Poland with sanctions, suspension of voting rights

(CNN) Marching by candlelight, demonstrators poured into streets across Poland to protest what some lament as the impending death of democracy in the country.

Crowds gathered in locations across the country on Thursday evening, including outside the presidential palace in Warsaw, just hours after the lower house of Parliament passed a bill that would give the populist government the power to push all of the country's Supreme Court judges into retirement.

Videos shared on social media captured the moment when protesters assembled in the capital sang a resounding version of the national anthem, waving Polish and European Union flags.

The upper house of Parliament, controlled by the country's ruling party -- the Law and Justice party, or PiS -- continued to debate the proposal on Friday as protests grew.

The proposed bill has now drawn the attention of the US State Department, which cautioned the PiS against adopting the measure it said appeared to "undermine judicial independence and weaken the rule of law in Poland."

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