WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's parliament has voted in favor of legislation that will make it possible for authorities to strip the nation's last communist leader, the late Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, and other communist-era officers of their ranks.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted 264-159 in favor of the legislation. After it passed, members of the ruling Law and Justice party rose to their feet and chanted "down with Communism!"

Under the law, which still needs approval from the Senate and president, high-ranking communist-era officers would be demoted to the rank of privates for their roles in the Moscow-imposed regime that lasted from 1944-1990 and in a repressive crackdown imposed by Jaruzelski in 1981 that killed around 100 dissidents.

Supporters see the law as an act of justice, but opponents describe it as vengeful.