- Monika Jaruzelska's candidacy was not submitted at yesterday's meeting of the National Board of the Democratic Left Alliance - a prominent SLD politician told 300POLITYKĄ.

- The National Board has approved the list leaders. The 'number ones' will be announced next week - emphasized our informant.

Yesterday, Sebastian Wierzbicki wrote on Twitter that the Warsaw council of SLD had recommended Jaruzelska for second place on the Warsaw list of Lewica.

However, one of our informants claims that Jaruzelska's run for the Senate is more likely. Another believes a run for the Sejm is possible, but from a lower position on the list.

-- MARCIN ŚWIĘCICKI ON REFUGEES LIVING IN HIS HOME - in an interview with Eliza Olczyk in Rzeczpospolita: “They’ve been living here for two years now, a young married couple. They recently had a baby. My wife and I joke that we have an extra granddaughter. They are very pleasant, discreet, and undemanding people. They have work and residency permits, so they can apply for municipal housing, and they probably will. For now, there’s no problem. We have a large house where my in-laws used to live, and where we lived with our four children. Now it’s just my wife and me, so there’s enough space. They are not the first guests to live with us.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/308089934-Marcin-Swiecicki-Dobrze-ze-tam-stali-Jaruzelski-i-Kiszczak.html -- ZDROJEWSKI WAITS FOR SCHETYNA TO RETURN FROM HOLIDAY, PSL HOLDS A PLACE FOR HIM: “The former Minister of Culture and MEP is waiting for a final offer from the leader of Civic Platform. However, he must first return from his holiday. For now, the former mayor of Wrocław is waiting for a meeting with him while renovating his house. As we unofficially learned, a one-on-one conversation is expected to take place immediately after the Civic Platform leader returns from his holiday, possibly this weekend. Bogdan Zdrojewski might get Ewa Wolak’s spot. Barbara Zdrojewska might run from the so-called “Wrocław belt” instead of the recommended Marek Skorupa. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the leader of PSL, has been and continues to entice him to run on the Polish Coalition’s lists. – Our lists are still open to them, we will support them even if they run in Wrocław as independents – I hear from Polish Coalition politicians.” https://polskatimes.pl/bogdan-zdrojewski-tuz-przed-decydujaca-rozmowa-z-grzegorzem-schetyna-ale-psl-trzyma-dla-bylego-prezydenta-wroclawia-miejsce-na/ar/c1-14339441 -- PIS POLL NUMBERS UNCHANGED - SE POLL: PIS 43%, KO 28%, LEWICA 12%, PSL 5%, KUKIZ 5%, KONFEDERACJA 4%, LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES 2%: http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25075030,nowy-sondaz-dla-super-expressu-afera-samolotowa-nie-ma-wplywu.html -- PIS ALSO STABLE IN DORZECZY POLL: “In this version, PiS (United Right) has 45.9%, Civic Coalition (PO, Nowoczesna, Zieloni) – 30.2%, The Left (SLD, Wiosna, Razem) – 10.1%, PSL – 5.3%, Confederation (Korwin, Ruch Narodowy) – 4.1%, and Non-Partisan Local Government Employees – 3.3%. 1% of respondents indicated other parties.” https://www.dorzeczy.pl/kraj/110599/sondaz-dla-dorzeczypl-duza-przewaga-pis-lewica-trzecia-sila.html -- ON NOT FIXING THE REPUBLIC - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ: “Successes in a few areas are not enough. PiS has not proven to be a party capable of creating a friendlier, more convenient, and rationally organized state for us.” -- PEOPLE, TAKE THE MONEY AND GET LOST - ZAREMBA ON PIS'S BEHAVIOR: “People, take our money and get lost – this is how a participant in online debates recently summarized the ruling PiS party’s approach to the state and its citizens. According to him, the ruling party has changed almost nothing in Poland over the past four years. This is a paradoxical summary of the governance of a party presented as a proponent of a strong, effective state machinery, if not an aspirant to dictatorship.” -- MINISTER OF HEALTH AS TRUSTEE OF BANKRUPT ESTATE - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “I remember my despondency when the system collapsed, after the National Health Fund (NFZ) under Tusk couldn’t agree with doctors on contracts. In a TV studio, cancer patients complain that their treatments have been interrupted. The then Minister of Health, Ewa Kopacz, tells them to their face that nothing of the sort has happened. I had a similar impression now, when Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski assured on camera that there are no problems acquiring certain medications. His declarations were juxtaposed with patient accounts. It’s possible that the drug crisis is due to years of neglect, but the minister can’t even explain it to Poles. He has largely been reduced to the role of a trustee of a bankrupt estate. He is rarely seen. There is no good news, after all. The massive electoral spending associated with “Kaczyński’s Fifth” has buried the hope that anything will change in this regard. It was decided that neither doctors nor even patients with their families constitute a sufficiently formidable lobby.” -- WE JUST NEED TO FEEL THAT THERE ARE BETTER PEOPLE IN POWER - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “Regardless of their efforts to elbow their way to maintain and strengthen their power, which is relatively simple, PiS remains a party of social transfers, not always accurately targeted, but somehow addressing income inequalities. And a party that addresses certain identity demands. Most often reactive, like the war against LGBT ideology. It is completely unable, however, to utilize institutions and public funds for a more long-term and more positivist rebuilding of society, even though its leaders sometimes speak of it. A good example is the checkmate they put on education. Even less so is it a party capable of arranging for us a state that is not necessarily cheaper, but friendlier, more convenient, and more rationally organized. We are expected to be content with the feeling that there are better people in power. Including Speaker Kuchciński flying on a government plane for skiing.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/308089907-PiS-nie-dal-rady-czyli-o-nie-naprawie-Rzeczypospolitej.html -- TUSK DIDN'T LIE AND IMPROVED - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: “Yes, Tusk also flew on a government plane home. But he didn't lie, he improved, and he kept his ministers in check.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE ABSURDITY OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S LOW SALARY: “The arrangement where the most burdened person in the state, the head of government, earns about PLN 14,000, while Glapiński’s acquaintance earns over PLN 60,000, is a terrible absurdity. Moreover, even before, the gap between salaries in the central bank and the government administration was an absurdity, which has now been multiplied.” -- PIS FEELS COMPLETELY IMMUNE - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES: “PiS politicians feel that they are completely immune. After the victorious European elections, they decided that such abuses do not harm them. They are immune not only because voters forgive them. Also because the prosecution will only deal with cases that Jarosław Kaczyński designates. PiS did not pay a drop in support for the 'two towers' affair, the KNF affair, or the PCK affair because citizens shrugged their shoulders. They did not pay a drop in support because many Poles did not learn about them, or they only flashed across their vision and disappeared in a flood of subsequent one-day sensations. This is because they were skillfully swept under the rug. PiS did not exploit our indifference, but rather the opportunities that come with power. Prosecutors did not deal with them. They are blocking – something that predecessors did not do, despite knowing how damaging their spectacular nature could be – the establishment of investigation committees.” -- IT DOESN'T BOTHER POLES - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES: “The bonuses for ministers, salaries at the NBP, Kuchciński’s flights clearly show: in Poland, one can extort public money and then lie to Poles without any restraint. But one can also do this because Poles themselves are not eager to punish politicians for it. Or perhaps something will finally change? Kuchciński will run in the parliamentary elections. We will soon have a test.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE SOURCES OF POLISH "KOMBInATORSTWO" QUOTING A PROFESSOR FROM OXFORD: “He had in mind ‘kombinatorstwo’ not only in a negative sense, because in difficult times it allowed survival, and it flourished in the Polish People’s Republic when Poles became convinced that there was no such thing as our common state and our public interest.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25073721,kuchcinski-jest-taki-sam-jak-my-czyli-polskie-kombinatorstwo.html -- ALEXIS FOR KUCHCIŃSKI - SE's lead story. -- MARSZAŁEK FROM JAWOR - Gazeta Wrocławska's lead story. -- FLESH-EATING BACTERIA ATTACKS PEOPLE IN THE BALTIC SEA - Fakt's lead story, but it's not about anyone from PiS. -- WITEK IS AN IDEA TO GET OUT OF THE CRISIS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Moreover, the first speech she delivered was addressed to the opposition, announcing a break from the sergeant-major method of managing Sejm proceedings and promising equal and partner-like treatment of the opposition. PiS could not have chosen a better person to try to mitigate the losses associated with the Kuchciński affair. And it's not just about the flights, but about the attempt to clean up the 'Byzantium' that he left behind – fencing off most of the area, closing corridors, and all those courtly behaviors that Marshal’s Guard officers were forced to endure. Kuchciński was such a terrible marshal that a few conciliatory gestures from Witek might lead to her being considered a quite good speaker of parliament at little cost.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190819985-Szuldrzynski-Marszalek-Witek-czyli-pomysl-PiS-na-wyjscie-z-kryzysu.html -- MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI ON THE HARMFUL PROPOSALS OF PSL AND KUKIZ - writes in Krytyka Polityczna: “PSL and Kukiz’15 have formed the Polish Coalition and announced their joint run in the parliamentary elections, and their leaders have signed a program agreement covering economic, anti-corruption, and civil packages. However, the ideas found within, such as voluntary ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) contributions for entrepreneurs, universal elections for the Prosecutor General and the Ombudsman, and binding national referendums with reduced turnout, are harmful proposals – even if the Polish Coalition never implements them.” -- WOULD BODNAR OR ZIOBRO WIN? - SUTOWSKI CONTINUES: “Let’s consider the election of the Prosecutor General and the National Council of the Judiciary by citizens. Anyone who has seen tabloid covers during high-profile trials understands that this is a perfect opportunity for a festival of legal and criminal demagoguery. What chance would proponents of rehabilitation policies, an absolute right to defense, the principle of presumption of innocence, or even decent prison conditions, and those who understand the social conditions of crime, have in a plebiscite against advocates of isolating at least potentially dangerous individuals, self-financing prisons, and the death penalty? Will Adam Bodnar or Zbigniew Ziobro win? And even if the idea of institutional reform itself is not adopted – how much will the postulate of direct accountability of the prosecution to public opinion influence criminal policy and its place on the electoral agenda?” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/psl-kukiz-razem-wybory-zus/ -- A STAGE VICTORY IN THE RACE, BUT IS IT ENOUGH? - AGATON KOZIŃSKI: “Marek Kuchciński’s resignation is like a stage victory for the opposition in a race. But the gap to the leader in the overall standings is still large. Something more is needed to close it. But PiS is most effectively defended by the opposition's lack of a positive agenda. It has not yet managed to present its own attractive program. Without it, you can't win elections in Poland today. 'Kuchciński Travel' alone, or similar scandals, won't bring victory to the opposition.” https://opinie.wp.pl/kozinski-kuchcinski-nadwerezyl-wiarygodnosc-pis-opozycja-zdola-to-wykorzystac-opinia-6411738305656961a -- PAWŁOWICZ ON THE TRAM: https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/sukces-super-expressu-pawlowicz-z-taksowek-przesiadla-sie-do-tramwaju-aa-s9qB-pXLj-awo1.html -- NATALIA DE BARBARO CONTACTED THE STATE OF PLAY TO DENY THE PAP INFORMATION, WHICH WE CITED, THAT SHE IS ADVISING PSL. We apologize for sharing unverified PAP information. -- BIRTHDAYS: Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Jan Cienski, SUNDAY: Bartosz Kownacki, Mateusz Szczurek, Łukasz Kamiński, Andrzej Biernat, Monika Jaruzelska. -- MONIKA JARUZELSKA WILL NOT BE RUNNING AFTER ALL: https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/08/10/nieoficjalnie-zarzad-krajowy-sld-zatwierdzil-czolowki-list-kandydatura-jaruzelskiej-nie-zostala-zgloszona/

Criticism [of tax cuts] primarily comes from local government officials. Local government officials who are affiliated with the opposition, with Civic Platform. I am primarily thinking here of the mayors of the largest Polish cities, who are united in the Union of Polish Metropolises. Cities like Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, Łódź, Kraków, or Wrocław are at the forefront here. All these local government officials have very strong political connotations, either directly with Civic Platform or they are officials whom Civic Platform has strongly supported and continues to support, as in the case of the Mayor of Kraków, but in other cities, like Warsaw or Łódź, they are direct Civic Platform activists. Today, we hear from these mayors that the tax changes we are consistently implementing are detrimental, that they are causing deficits in local government budgets. So, I wanted to state clearly and unequivocally how this situation actually looks, not through the propaganda of our political rivals - stated Jacek Sasin at a press conference. He added:

"Thanks to our government, to the effects of our rule, local government revenues have significantly increased over the last 4 years. Regarding the overall growth in local government revenues, in 2018 compared to 2015, these revenues increased by PLN 26 billion. Of this, PLN 20 billion annually is the increase in revenues from PIT and CIT taxes received by local governments. This means an increase from PIT tax alone, as it is the most important here, a 46% increase in local government PIT revenues over these 4 years. This is, of course, a result of the good governance of PiS, which has led to high economic growth, practically eliminating unemployment, meaning a significant increase in the number of employed people, and also a significant, perhaps record-breaking, increase in wages. All of this has translated into higher PIT revenues, both for the central budget and for the budgets of local governments.”

- The cost of lowering PIT tax, meaning zero PIT for the youngest and reducing the PIT rate for everyone from 18% to 17%, is approximately PLN 12 billion annually in net terms, which also affects the reduced state budget revenue. Less than half of this is a deficit in local government budgets, meaning approximately PLN 5.5 to 6 billion will indeed flow less into local government budgets. If we compare this to the PLN 26 billion I mentioned earlier, we see that one cannot really say here that local governments have lost, because they have not. Local governments have gained under PiS rule, if we compare 2018 with 2015, even after accounting for this deficit. PLN 20 billion annually. Today, when these local government officials are losing residents due to the necessity of cutting investments, and the financial collapse of local governments, they are dishonest and want to evoke some negative emotions towards a very positive event, which is tax reduction - said the Deputy Prime Minister. He announced that PiS will continue to lower taxes. - A very clear question needs to be posed to the opposition leaders, primarily to the leaders of Civic Platform, what is their position on this matter. Do they support the demands of local government officials who come from their party, do they really believe that right now, as the Union of Polish Metropolises wants, compensation for local government officials is needed. If they believe so, we expect a very clear statement from them and an indication of which funds these local governments are to receive the requested compensation from - Sasin asked. - We kindly ask you to clearly indicate from whose money, whom Civic Platform wants to take the money from, or which state budget actions they want to abandon, or perhaps they want to introduce some new taxes to increase their budget revenues. Perhaps they want to return to property tax - he added. - Or perhaps Civic Platform wants to reverse these tax solutions that are beneficial to Poles? Perhaps they want, after a potential victory, to cause taxes that Poles will pay to be higher again? Instead of lowering taxes, they want to raise them? These are perfectly justified questions - he continued. - A very clear voice from the leadership of Civic Platform, Grzegorz Schetyna, is needed, who should stand up on this matter and express a very clear opinion - he added. https://twitter.com/pisorgpl/status/1160130279182413825 https://twitter.com/pisorgpl/status/1160130430559039488