The government session will begin at 10:00 AM. Among other things, ministers will address changes to the Penal Code and amendments to the Act on Enforcement Proceedings in Administration.

At 1:00 PM, a press conference will be held by the Minister of National Education, Dariusz Piontkowski. The topic: Recruitment to post-primary and post-secondary schools for the 2019/2020 school year.

At 3:00 PM, the Law and Justice party's Political Committee will convene at the party's headquarters on Nowogrodzka Street. Its task will be to approve the party's full lists for the Sejm and Senate elections.

- If [Truskolaski] accuses anyone from the Law and Justice party of physical attacks on people from another demonstration, there is absolutely no such information. If he does so, he should be accountable for it, also in terms of political responsibility. He should simply apologize - said Piotr Müller in an interview with Katarzyna Gójska on "Sygnały Dnia" on Jedynka radio.

- I want to emphasize that there were over 800 participants. All of them were surrounded by police forces. It is precisely because the police secured this march that none of those bottles, flares, or stones reached the participants of this gathering. The main brunt of the hooligan attacks in Białystok on Saturday was borne by police officers. I am ready to prove it immediately. A lot of our equipment was damaged, primarily personal protective equipment for police officers, due to the police's preemptive intervention, removing a blockade created by people spontaneously gathering along the route of the Equality March – stated the Head of the National Police Headquarters, Jarosław Szymczyk, in an interview with Agata Adamek on TVN24's "Jeden na jeden".

- We have apprehended 36 individuals. An additional 13 people have been identified. The intensive work of analyzing the secured monitoring footage is ongoing, including throughout last night – he added.

– Donald Tusk is clearly seeking his place in politics as his European term concludes and he is attempting, as is his way, his method of political action, to insinuate something ugly, to say something somewhere, and then pretend it wasn't him. Tusk has adopted such a method of operating in Polish politics, but what he said is scandalous – stated Radosław Fogiel in a conversation with Wojciech Dąbrowski on Polsat News's "Graffiti".

- Chances are slim we'll see full candidate lists today, as we're talking about nearly 1000 candidates nationwide. 41 constituencies, over 900 names. Purely from a human, technical perspective, if we don't want committee members to collapse from starvation and dehydration - said Radosław Fogiel in an interview with Wojciech Dąbrowski on Polsat News' "Graffiti".

- We are leaning towards current MPs. This is the working name for the candidate list strategy – 'Club+', meaning current members plus new individuals, fresh faces who can bring support. We're talking more about experienced local government officials or people recognizable in local communities - Fogiel added.

- Within 24 hours, we will finalize the definitive formula, because Koalicja Polska is a fact, and regarding the entities that are joining us, there are more and more of them every day. From smaller ones like the Union of European Democrats, Labour Party, Democratic Party, but also very advanced talks with Kukiz’15, which – I believe – we will finalize today, or with the Non-Partisan Samorządowcy – stated Piotr Zgorzelski in an interview with Krzysztof Ziemiec on TVP1's "Political Quarter Hour".

„The actions of Civic Platform (KO) politicians increasingly convince me that events like the ones in Białystok are some kind of scenario orchestrated by the opposition, which seemingly wants to move the election campaign to the streets, lacking any positive program. There are such signals, statements from some politicians, which Janusz Palikot perhaps revealed, that this would be the opposition's strategy: to provoke, to organize such marches, hoping that riots like in Białystok will occur and to conduct the campaign on that basis. This is not a good path. I would like to appeal to the opposition politicians not to go down this road” - said Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin in an interview with Beata Michniewicz on Radio Trójka.

„[Minister Piontkowski's statement] This is an appeal to the organizers of these events, so that they do not try to forcibly impose their ideology, the LGBT ideology, on other citizens. This is an action that is unacceptable to a large part of society. I interpreted this as an appeal to the organizers not to go down this path. Flaunting one's sexual orientation seems inappropriate to me. These are private matters for every individual, and they should be guided by their beliefs in their private life, while I strongly do not share the view that such events should take place” - said Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin in an interview with Beata Michniewicz on Radio Trójka.

"On Thursday, a meeting will take place between Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the newly elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The subject of the meeting will be personnel matters, obviously, related to the new composition of the European Commission, but not solely concerning Poland. Poland has its commissioner, and we will lobby for an important portfolio for the Polish commissioner, as well as regarding geographical balance within the new distribution of portfolios in the EC. The second issue will be matters related to the implementation of the EC's strategic agenda. The European Council, as part of the new term, adopted strategic goals for the newly elected EC for 5 years, including issues related to the expansion of the free market and moving away from protectionism in certain areas," said government spokesperson Piotr Müller at a press conference.

"The government's stance is that every march that can legally take place in Poland, if a group of citizens wishes to organize such a march, it should proceed. The march in Białystok proceeded in accordance with the law. There are no plans to restrict such marches in any way. If they are conducted according to the legal order, the police will also protect them and strive to ensure they take place safely, regardless of whether they are right-wing or left-wing marches" – said government spokesperson Piotr Müller at a press conference.

- Generally, I want to say that we strongly condemn, I condemn the hooligan, aggressive behavior that we had the opportunity to observe during the events in Białystok. There is a place for everyone in Poland, but there is definitely no place for such hooligan, aggressive behavior, for such barbaric treatment of another human being. I also want to emphasize with all my might that in our DNA, our genetic code of PiS, it is worth remembering the actions of the late President Lech Kaczyński, which was precisely ensuring the safety of citizens. We remember what it looked like after the 90s, who took up the task with enormous energy and perseverance to ensure the safety of Poles. It was President Lech Kaczyński, and this is at the core, the heart of every PiS political and social program, which can then be read over the following years, and similarly today we condemn, I want to emphasize this once again. What happened in Białystok was absolutely unacceptable, reprehensible behavior. Everyone has the right to demonstrate. The police ensure safety, the police have immediately initiated and are conducting actions aimed at effectively apprehending not only the direct aggressors, but also individuals who were aggressors not captured in video recordings. This is already a group of twenty-something, or perhaps even over thirty individuals detained. Interrogations will take place, they are ongoing all the time, and with full determination, I want to emphasize that we will take care of the safety of Poles - stated Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a press conference in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. As he emphasized, the government does not tolerate such hooligan behavior in the slightest.

“We are considering everything, but it is the sovereign decision of the state, in accordance with the treaties, to present its representatives to the European Commission. Yes, we have such candidates, but it must be emphasized that I will be discussing the scope of competencies with President von der Leyen. I respect the scope of competencies of all commissioners, but it is also known that certain portfolios, especially economic ones, are extremely important from the perspective of the economic development of the entire European Union, but our particular concern is Poland. I will definitely discuss this” - said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a press conference.

- Regarding the hooliganism, which manifested itself there [in Białystok] and I would even use the term troglodytes, who directed their aggression and violence towards other people, including the police, I can only say this: zero tolerance. Nobody, even if they disagree with the protesters, has the slightest moral right, any right whatsoever, to use aggression against anyone. And it is obvious to me that the police should hold all those individuals who broke the law accountable, regardless of the avatars they have on their social media profiles, or how much they use patriotic or God-and-country rhetoric. I am convinced that the police, as usual and as always, will deal with these troglodytes and this hooliganism - stated Joachim Brudziński in a conversation with journalists.

“I only spoke about how these types of demonstrations evoke strong emotions. They sometimes also lead to aggressive behavior, and we witnessed such a situation in Białystok. Therefore, I spoke about the need to prepare for the consequences of organizing such demonstrations. One of these consequences is, among other things, the immense scale of emotions. I confirm that it is worth considering this aspect and at the same time I confirm that Poland is a state of law, a democratic state of law, and here everyone, including those who have different ideas about functioning in life, has the right to organize demonstrations. Such a demonstration took place in Białystok. The Polish state provides protection to demonstrators” – said Minister Dariusz Piontkowski at a press conference. 

As 300POLITYKA has learned, an additional session of the Sejm will be held next Wednesday, July 31st. According to our sources, this is a necessity after opposition amendments to the draft laws regarding the "500+ for the disabled" and Voluntary Fire Brigades (OSP) were voted through last week. The Sejm will also elect a new President of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK).

The Senate – which also begins its work next Wednesday – will have to adopt the aforementioned laws in the morning, so that the Sejm can convene at 12:00 PM. A Senate committee meeting concerning the "500+ for the disabled" program has already been scheduled for Tuesday, July 30th. On Friday, the Sejm voted through an amendment by the Civic Platform-Civic Coalition club (PO-KO) that would exclude pensions and annuities from the Family Support Fund (FUS) from the income limit for benefits. Unclear signals were coming from the Law and Justice party (PiS) regarding whether this change would be maintained, or removed or modified during the Senate proceedings.

Another law subject to potential amendment is the amendment to the fire protection act, which stipulates that Voluntary Fire Brigades may receive up to 82 million PLN from the state budget this year. In the aforementioned Friday voting session, MPs adopted an opposition amendment according to which it will be local government authorities, not the Minister of Interior, as initially foreseen in the project, who will decide on the distribution of financial resources for OSP. The Senate committee on this matter will convene on Tuesday, July 31st at 7:00 PM.

Furthermore, during the evening voting session – between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM – the Sejm will elect a new President of the Supreme Audit Office. The deadline for submitting candidacies expires on July 28th. Thanks to this, a candidate – according to DGP, it will be Marian Banaś – can be approved by the Senate, and the swearing-in ceremony before the Sejm will likely take place at the next Sejm session, scheduled for August 30th.

The Sejm will also address changes to the Electoral Code – the second reading is scheduled for 12:45 PM. As we wrote on 300POLITYKA last week, the PiS proposal was not voted on during the last session, although the ruling party planned an expedited pace for its work. The first reading took place on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday – a committee meeting that introduced amendments. After that, the work stalled because the second reading was not scheduled in the timeline.

- We optimistically expect it to be this week, but to be safe, we'll keep the two-week horizon in mind - said Radosław Fogiel in a conversation with Beata Michniewicz on Polish Radio Trójka.

- Chairman Grzegorz Schetyna announced a meeting of the Civic Platform's National Board for Friday. I think the frameworks of the lists will be presented on Friday - said Jan Grabiec in an interview with Beata Michniewicz on Polskie Radio Program III.

„We already saw symptoms of the brutalization of life in Poland during the Independence Marches. It was primarily verbal brutality, but we frequently witnessed performances by neo-fascists, groups that kicked and beat others. There cannot be a situation in Poland where women are kicked on the streets, regardless of their views or affiliation, when the brutalization of social life is overlooked and some people support fan groups and factions that attack women and people. The Prime Minister and the government should distance themselves from these groups. The question is, can he afford to” - said Jacek Karnowski, the Mayor of Sopot, on “Events and Opinions” on Polsat News.

„[Talking about the birth of fascism] is an emotional narrative from the opposition. I am aware that an election campaign is underway. It has not been formally announced, but we have entered a phase of strong words. Everyone on the opposition side will try to use the strongest possible words. We have dealt with banditry, with common criminals, with physical violence, which the police are apprehending and combating. Using the word 'fascism' is an attempt by the opposition to impose a narrative” - said Minister Michał Woś in an interview with Bogdan Rymanowski on Polsat News' "Wydarzenia i opinie". 

- As the Karnowski brothers' portal, it seems, recently wrote, these are thugs who don't hit, only want to be hit. That is, an absolute equating of the perpetrator and the victim. It's impossible to sink lower in journalism. This is the bottom of the barrel. This post shows a certain madness on the right, to demonstrate this way of inciting Poles against each other - said Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz in an interview with Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska on TVN24's "Fakty po faktach" (Facts After Facts).

"Final touches are being made. The Political Committee is discussing and deliberating over each candidacy. I have been delegated by Solidarna Polska to our subgroup within the United Right, alongside a representative from Porozumienie and Krzysztof Sobolewski. Agreements have been reached. We are far ahead. We have outpaced the opposition. All our lead candidates are already in place and active. [Full lists] are a matter of a short time. It's also a technical matter. The Political Committee is discussing each candidacy, and we have over 900 people" - said Minister Michał Woś in an interview with Bogdan Rymanowski on Polsat News' "Wydarzenia i opinie" program. 

- The Civic Platform visited 1000 pharmacies across Poland today, showing which medicines are missing. PiS is making lists, and we are showing what the lists of missing medicines look like - said Joanna Mucha in an interview with Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska on TVN24's "Fakty po faktach" (Facts after Facts).

- The Left is going into these elections united. Poles expect the opposition to unite, and it is uniting. The Left is going together, and it has a good program to offer. We will not attack Civic Platform, we will not attack PSL. We are moving in parallel. This is to take power away from PiS and to ensure that situations like the one in Białystok never happen again – said Krzysztof Śmiszek in an interview with Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska on TVN24's "Fakty po faktach".

- Of course, this project [500+ for the disabled] is currently in the Senate. We know that a certain amendment will need to be introduced there, and we anticipate it. I think, I am sure, that the law will come into effect on October 1st - stated Bożena Borys-Szopa in an interview with Edyta Lewandowska on TVP Info's "Gość Wiadomości".