WARSAW — A bill giving Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party extensive control over the judiciary — one that could push the EU one step closer to pursuing sanctions against Warsaw — cleared a key parliamentary hurdle Thursday.

Poland’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm, approved legislation that would force all members of the country’s Supreme Court into retirement. Poland’s president, upon the request of the justice minister, gets to decide which judges may remain on the court.

The measure sparked critics’ fears that Poland is shifting away from being a Western democracy, and opposition-backed demonstrations were planned across the country on Thursday night.

The vote came after two other bills aimed at giving the government control over the selection of judges throughout the country’s legal system were approved last week.

Under one bill, the Council for the Judiciary, a body responsible for the nomination of new judges, would be dissolved, and parliament would be given the power to select all of its new members. Under the second bill, Poland’s powerful justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, would be empowered to nominate and remove the chairpersons and senior officials of regional and appeal courts.

The new law will now be sent to the senate for approval, where Law and Justice also has a majority. All three pieces of legislation require the signature of Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has expressed apprehension over some of the proposed reforms.

However, Law and Justice made tweaks to accommodate some of Duda’s concerns; it will now take a three-fifths majority in parliament to choose new judges for the Council for the Judiciary rather than a simple majority. As the president recently said he supports the party’s broad aim to revamp the court system, the legislation is likely to be signed into law.

Critics worry the legal changes will leave the country’s top judicial body in the hands of Poland’s executive branch — and Law and Justice. The Polish government has come under considerable criticism at home and abroad for what some policymakers and legal scholars believe is an effort to undermine checks and balances since winning power in 2015.

“Instead of mending this big house of justice, you place an explosive under its foundations,” Polish ombudsman Adam Bodnar told the Sejm ahead of Thursday’s vote. “It is a very sad day for Poland and for all of us.”

Tensions could be felt in Poland’s parliament Wednesday night, where a debate over the bill culminated with a futile fight for the chairman’s microphone and opposition deputies singing the national anthem as deputies from the ruling party rejected 1,300 proposed amendments in one vote.

The Polish government’s moves to take control of the judiciary are being closely watched in Brussels, where earlier in the week Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans warned it is “very close” to triggering Article 7 proceedings against Poland, a process which, in the unlikely event that Poland’s allies don’t block it, could lead to the suspension of the country’s voting rights in the EU.

Poland’s foreign ministry denounced what it called external interference in Poland’s affairs, and concerns from Brussels didn’t faze the ruling party.

“We watch with regret that reforming efforts which are so much looked for by the society are used by the opposition for political infighting,” the ministry said in a statement. “We also watch with anxiety attempts of foreign intervention in the ongoing legislative process.”

Polish officials also rejected a request from European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, for an “urgent” meeting with Duda.

“Bringing judges under the control of the governing party in the manner proposed by the Law and Justice party ruins an already tarnished public opinion of Polish democracy,” Tusk wrote. “The situation, including at international level, is really serious. And that is why I am asking for serious measures and serious partners.”

Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told reporters that “Donald Tusk’s job is to defend Poland’s interests in Brussels and not to interfere into a domestic political process in Poland.”