-- THE THIRD REPUBLIC SYSTEM COVERS TWO-THIRDS OF THE COUNTRY, THE REST IS CHAOS - says Rafał Matyja in an interview with Krzysztof Mazur on Jagielloński24: "The system of the Third Republic covers two-thirds of the country. The remaining part is chaos. Within this one-third, much can still be done. I am not an admirer of people who get up in the morning with the intention of rebelling against all trends. However, I respect those who, without withdrawing from normal life, can take a risk from time to time and play against those trends they disagree with. State reforms are too difficult, almost impossible, for the current political class. At the same time, I still believe that many things – rather corrections than reforms – are within our reach. Sometimes a synthesis of Michał Kulesza and Jan Rokita is enough. The most important thing is awareness: 'Damn, I became this minister, but they'll push me out soon, I need to do something irreversible.'

-- KACZYŃSKI WAS SPOILED BY THE SYSTEM - Matyja continues: "One can use two keys. The first is when I say that Kaczyński was spoiled by this system. To win, he had to modify his expectations in precisely this way. He did it to such an extent that it's actually unclear whether he became its hostage or creator. The second key can be a paraphrase of Machiavelli: it's unclear whether the state can be repaired at all, because a good person will not be able to gain power, and an evil person, having gained it through evil methods, will no longer have the strength to repair the state. Therefore, the main idea of 'Emergency Exit' is that the desired change cannot be achieved through the methods of party politics as shaped in recent years." http://jagiellonski24.pl/2018/04/10/matyja-szansy-upatruje-w-kryzysie/

-- EVEN WISE CONSERVATISM WON'T SAVE US - Marek Beylin in GW: "Such a view of the state and nation led Matyja to the thesis that Kaczyński is not carrying out a political coup, but is merely a radical continuator of the flaws of the Third Republic – an inefficient state and a poorly cohesive national community. This thesis holds up only if we disregard the state of civil rights – because there is a fundamental difference between the Third Republic (including PO) which often disregarded groups demanding rights, and PiS, which consistently eliminates acquired rights. And possessing rights is the main instrument of control over one's own destiny, the fundamental promise of democracy. (...) Lack of imagination also turns out to be an affliction of enlightened Polish conservatism. Conservatism will not save us – not even in Matyja's wise rendition. And if it seizes the collective imagination, it will only hasten our march into a political desert, where we will remain without ties to the world and civic agency." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23279520,nawet-madry-konserwatyzm-nas-nie-zbawi.html

-- KONRAD SZYMAŃSKI ON CALMING EMOTIONS: "The political strategy is to first and foremost calm emotions, because this matter is bringing disproportionate, harmful side effects. We're starting to think about ourselves solely in terms of this one issue. It would be good to contain it within a specific segment of Polish-EU matters, of which there are many and they are diverse. Many of them have ended successfully, or we are acting together in them, with similar goals. There is no reason to reduce Polish-EU relations or the relations between Poland and the EU to this unfortunate matter." https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/39042-wazny-wywiad-konrada-szymanskiego-dla-ppd-min-o-relacjach-z-ue-i-sporze-z-ke-jednosc-europy-to-nie-dekoracja

-- WINID PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR: http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,23278495,odwolany-przez-waszczykowskiego-przedstawiciel-polski-przy-onz.html

-- GŁOS KOSZALIŃSKI ON THE DETAILS OF GAWŁOWSKI'S DETENTION: "Gawłowski is in a so-called transit cell. (...) He will be able to keep his belongings. He received a doctor's approval for meals within his diet. Yesterday, he was served, among other things, cauliflower soup, Szczecin-style roulade, warm carrots, sausage, bread, compote, and an apple." http://www.gs24.pl/wiadomosci/szczecin/g/stanislaw-gawlowski-w-areszcie-sledczym-w-szczecinie-co-go-tam-czeka-zdjecia,13099490,28429990/

-- GAWŁOWSKI ARRESTED DUE TO CONFRONTATION - GW: "According to 'Wyborcza' information, the necessity to conduct a confrontation between Stanisław Gawłowski and other suspects was, among other things, the reason for the use of pre-trial detention. The MP will face people from whom he allegedly took bribes." http://szczecin.wyborcza.pl/szczecin/7,34939,23276538,przebywajacego-w-areszcie-posla-po-stanislawa-gawlowskiego-czeka.html

-- BIEDROŃ CATCHING UP TO TUSK - SE: DUDA 36, TUSK 23, BIEDROŃ 19, KUKIZ 7, JARUZELSKA 4, JKM, LUBNAUER 3, WKK 2 - Pollster survey: http://m.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/biedron-goni-tuska-sondaz-dla-super-expressu-i-se-pl_1049880.html

-- OPPONENTS OF AGREEMENT WITH POLAND HAVE BECOME ACTIVE - writes Katarzyna Szymańska-Borginon: "However, the atmosphere is quite tense. Opponents of the agreement have become very active on both sides, which is an additional inhibiting factor. My interlocutors in PiS admit that Zbigniew Ziobro is dissatisfied with the concessions in the judiciary, seeing them as a weakening of his influence. Meanwhile, as I ascertained in Brussels, ambassadors from 9 EU countries have asked Timmermans to maintain pressure on Poland and not to withdraw Article 7 for now. At the ambassadors' meeting (COREPER), a large group of countries stated that pressure on Poland must be maintained – a diplomat from the EU Council told me. Most of these countries are net contributors, meaning countries that are keen on weakening Poland in budget negotiations."

-- TUSK BELIEVES BORGINON IS SPREADING RUMORS THAT PIS IS ARRESTING HIM: "Unexpectedly, Donald Tusk might harm the agreement... He has a at least cool approach to the matter of a potential agreement with the EC. There is no support from him, but he is also not actively hindering it – revealed one of the Polish diplomats. Another of my interlocutors in Brussels, however, stated that 'Tusk is spreading rumors around Brussels that PiS will arrest him and his son as well.' Of course, this does not create a good atmosphere around Poland, but as one of my interlocutors commented – 'the Gawłowski case might have stimulated the imagination.' http://www.rmf24.pl/tylko-w-rmf24/katarzyna-szymanska-borginion/blogi/newsamp-to-najtrudniejszy-moment-w-rozmowach-polski-z-ke-czy-donald-,nId,2570049?

-- PROF. NOWAK CRITICIZES DUDA: I CAN'T DEFEND THIS DECISION: "– Unfortunately, this is a decision whose justification, unlike many of the President's other decisions, I cannot defend, especially its reasoning – declared the professor." https://dorzeczy.pl/kraj/61929/Weto-prezydenta-do-ustawy-degradacyjnej-Mocne-slowa-prof-Nowaka.html

-- NOWOCZESNA WILL LIKELY SUPPORT JAŚKOWIAK - GW: "Talks between PO and Nowoczesna regarding electoral cooperation in Poznań – concerning not only the support for Jaśkowiak but also a joint list for the city council – have been ongoing for several months. However, at the beginning of March – as we wrote in 'Wyborcza' – they broke down over the participation of Nowoczesna politician and former presidential official Ryszard Grobelny, Łukasz Goździor. Nowoczesna then threatened that if an agreement wasn't reached, they would field their own candidate for mayor of Poznań, MP Adam Szłapka. If Grupiński's words about Nowoczesna supporting Jaśkowiak are confirmed, the scenario with Szłapka will be obsolete." http://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/7,36001,23279487,jacek-jaskowiak-z-poparciem-poznanskiej-po-prawdopodobnie-poprze.html

-- MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI ON A STRATEGY FOR THE OPPOSITION: "Defending local governments is an opportunity to give some substance to general phrases about defending Poland from PiS – to lend credibility beyond the specter of 'Misiewicz crowds' and the 'PiS plague'; to recruit local politicians to a coalition and mobilize all those who are bothered by ostentatious centralism."

-- SUTOWSKI BELIEVES EXCESSIVE CRITICISM OF SOCIAL BENEFITS MOBILIZES BENEFICIARIES: "Attacking from the other side – 'handouts, sir! the lazy will drink them up, they will multiply like rabbits, they will ruin the budget' – is, to put it mildly, not a good solution. There aren't that many voters in Poland who are terrified by the prospect of a larger deficit and the collapse of public finances. Electoral mobilization of this kind requires strongly grounded free-market views, and their adherents likely already fall within the current electorate of PO and Nowoczesna, or Kukiz and Korwin's Freedom party. There will be no electoral bread from this flour for the opposition – if anything, it will be for PiS, because let's remember that criticism of social programs mobilizes their numerous beneficiaries." http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/opozycja-musi-pokazac-ze-walka-z-pis-to-walka-o-samorzadnosc/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=krytyka

-- SHE RETURNED OUR MONEY TO THE SHARKS - Fakt on the building on Dahlberga Street. https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/hanna-gronkiewicz-waltz-oddala-cwaniakom-nasze-pieniadze/j3w739w

-- ŚPIEWAK DETERMINED TO RUN - as RZ reports: "Not anymore, most likely. I am determined to run in the elections. But I don't want it to be just my decision. We need to join forces with progressive elements in the city and move forward."

-- ŚPIEWAK ON A PROGRESSIVE COALITION IN THE CAPITAL: "This includes the Together party, activists, urban movements, Inicjatywa Polska, foundations, and associations involved in city matters. We are looking for people who are interested and engaged in working for the city. I will be a candidate if there is enough broad support to give me a chance to achieve the minimum plan, which is to get five to six candidates into the City Council. Then we will block Platforma. This is the benchmark. Either Warsaw will follow the path of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, as Halicki and Trzaskowski recently stated, or it will be a modern European metropolis utilizing all its potential." http://www.rp.pl/Kraj/304169922-Jan-Spiewak-Rozliczyc-PO-za-rzady-w-stolicy.html

-- THE PEOPLE WHO ENABLED THE MAFIA ARE DOING GREAT - Jan Śpiewak: "At this moment, more than two years after the outbreak of the reprivatization scandal, those who enabled the mafia's activities are doing great and living the life of Riley, while those who exposed the scandal are being dragged through the courts. I am truly the only Warsaw politician who has been convicted at this point, which is symbolic. However, I hope it won't end this way and the appellate court will reverse it. I also have a sense of déjà vu. Four years ago, I also lost in the first instance against Maciej M., and the appellate court ruled in my favor. I hope it will be the same this time and Wojciech Bartelski will meet a similar fate." https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/390488-nasz-wywiad-jan-spiewak-ludzie-ktorzy-umozliwi-dzialalnosc-mafii-maja-sie-swietnie-a-ci-ktorzy-ujawnili-afere-sa-ciagani-po-sadach

-- JUSTICE ACCORDING TO PIS - Fakt's front page: PiS senator free, PO MP jailed. https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/posel-z-po-siedzi-senator-z-pis-wolny/9q452jv

-- THIS IS HOW PIS DEFENDS ITS OWN - Fakt headline.

-- ARREST AS A POLITICAL WEAPON - Wojciech Czuchnowski in GW: "In the legal culture of the West, it is normal for someone suspected of economic fraud or corruption to be free during the trial, which does not mean they will escape a verdict if found guilty. In Poland, an arrested person is kept in a cell for years, the prosecutor calmly writes the indictment, and the public is happy because the criminal is 'in jail'. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,23278856,areszt-jako-miecz-polityczny-ma-byc-kara-a-przede-wszystkim.html

-- PLATFORMA STANDS SOLIDLY BEHIND GAWŁOWSKI, SCANDAL AFTER SCANDAL - GPC on the front page.

-- SOLIDARITY BEHIND GAWŁOWSKI - RZ headline.

-- KKZ ON LOCAL ELECTIONS IN THE SHADOW OF ARRESTS: "After what happened in the Sejm, it's easy to imagine a situation where PO – knowing that Adamowicz might win and stop PiS in Gdańsk – supports him and considers the charges against him unbelievable, and suddenly there's a loud 'boom'. The die is cast, the candidate list is registered – and then Adamowicz is detained and arrested." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23279517,wybory-samorzadowe-odbeda-sie-w-cieniu-aresztow.html

-- PIS HAS AN IDEA FOR THE CONSTITUTION. DIFFERENT FROM PRESIDENT DUDA - GW.

-- PIS CONSTITUTIONAL SURVEY. PRESIDENT DUDA OR KING JAROSŁAW - DGP headline.

-- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON PIS'S HIDDEN TRAP FOR THE PRESIDENT - writes in RZ: "But if we treat PiS's actions as an offer to the president, we must recognize the trap hidden within it. Namely, the majority of experts polled by the ruling party advocate for a significant strengthening of the center of power and leaving the office of head of state as a 'decorative element'. Therefore, if Duda accepts PiS's help, he must reckon with the fact that on the matter of a new system, Jarosław Kaczyński's party has fundamentally different interests than the head of state. On the other hand, rejecting PiS's offer will mean the president accepts that a lost referendum will damage his position. Damned if you do, damned if you don't." http://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/304169899-Szuldrzynski-PiS-wodzi-prezydenta-na-pokuszenie.html

-- CONSTITUTIONAL MANEUVERS ARE MERELY MUTUAL CHESS-PLAYING - EWA SIEDLECKA BELIEVES: "So it seems that both the constitutional survey and the referendum on whether and how to change the constitution are merely political gestures. They are not aimed at actual constitutional change, but solely at mutual chess-playing between the ruling party and the president, and promoting for the future – should PiS gain a constitutional majority – the idea of constitutional change. The public is to receive the message, which Marshal Kuchciński has repeated several times: that the 1997 constitution 'requires changes' because it has 'aged' and the world has moved on. What then can be said about the U.S. constitution adopted in the 18th century?" https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2018/04/16/ankieta-konstytucyjna-pis/?nocheck=1

-- KORNEL MORAWIECKI CRITICIZES BEATA SZYDŁO - as SE reports: "My son is a better prime minister than Beata Szydło. As for Ms. Szydło, I am astonished that she defended those awards in the Sejm. Those were very unfortunate, unnecessary words. In this sense, she harmed the PiS government. My son announced the abolition of awards, and Ms. Szydło goes to the podium and says they were deserved. There must be a common message! - emphasizes Kornel Morawiecki." http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/kornel-morawiecki-nie-ma-watpliwosci-szydlo-zaszkodzia-rzadowi_1049919.html

-- WŁODZIMIERZ CZARZASTY ON 3 TIMES 2100: "As the Democratic Left Alliance, we have gone a step further than the government. We want a 'three times 2100 PLN' program, meaning the minimum pension and minimum disability pension should be equal to the minimum wage. The current ones, at 800 PLN, do not allow for survival. I am also curious when PiS will address the issue of equal pay for women compared to men. I haven't heard about that." http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/opinie/czarzasty-pis-znalazl-sposob-na-spadek-poparcia_1049749.html

-- LOW CIT ONLY FOR THE SELECTED - DGP.

-- BIG CUT FOR FEW TAXPAYERS - DGP.

-- ABSOLUTE MAJORITY OF SMALL COMPANIES WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM CIT REDUCTION - DGP.

-- LESZEK KOSTRZEWSKI IN GW: "And PiS is doing nothing to reduce this gap – quite the opposite, it is driving the Social Insurance Institution into an even greater abyss. In the autumn of 2016, the retirement age was lowered, which will cost 55 billion PLN over five years, and now it wants to finance pensions for mothers. Of course, this is very noble, but at the same time very irresponsible – because it accelerates the bankruptcy of the insurance system." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23278624,emerytura-dla-matek-szlachetny-pomysl-pis-na-wpedzenie-zus.html

-- THE CURIA AND SOLIDARITY HAND IN HAND WITH ONR - GW front page.

-- JARUZELSKA LIKE KACZYŃSKI - Fakt on MJ's interview for GW where she expressed doubts about adoption by same-sex couples.

-- BIRTHDAYS: Marcin Święcicki, Paweł Śpiewak, Michał Wójcik, Robert Gliński, Ryszard Grobelny.