-- PHOTO BY PAWEŁ BALINOWSKI FROM RMF. https://twitter.com/PBalinowski

-- PRESIDENT IN PARLIAMENT WITH PROTESTING PARENTS AND THEIR DISABLED CHILDREN - TOPIC OF THE DAY ON 300 LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/04/20/

-- SOLID GROWTH IN PRESIDENT'S APPROVAL RATINGS IN KANTAR PUBLIC SURVEY: “The April Kantar Public survey shows that 54% of respondents – 5 percentage points more than in March – approve of President Andrzej Duda's work; 34% disapprove (4 points less). In turn, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's work is approved by 46%; disapproved by 32% (unchanged).” http://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-coraz-wieksze-poparcie-dla-prezydenta-sondaz-kantar-public,nId,2571431

-- SPRZEDAŻ WPROST'S SALES HAVE DROPPED TO THE LOWEST LEVEL IN THE MAGAZINE'S HISTORY - 15 THOUSAND COPIES http://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/sprzedaz-tygodnikow-opinii-luty-2018-roku-gosc-niedzielny-sieci

-- ZDROJEWSKI: I CAN IMAGINE ALL SCENARIOS: “– I rule out supporting any candidate other than the Civic Platform's candidate. Otherwise, I would have to leave the Platform – Zdrojewski said in an interview with Radio Wrocław. – I can imagine all scenarios.” http://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,23296022,zdrojewski-o-kandydaturze-ujazdowskiego-musimy-szukac-opcji.html

-- ROBERT BIEDROŃ SAYS HE IS THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION - in an interview with SE: “Robert Biedroń: – Nothing is ruled out in politics, but for now, I am the mayor of Słupsk. In Słupsk, I want to finish the housing construction issues so that people don't leave the city. As for the poll for 'Super Express', I am very happy that I have become the leader of the entire opposition. This is a huge responsibility. I don't have any party or parliamentary club behind me. If the opposition wants to unite, I invite them to a dialogue about the future of Poland, I invite them to a round table in Słupsk and to cooperate with me. I invite Grzegorz Schetyna, Katarzyna Lubnauer, Ryszard Petru, and others. Let's form a symbolic party of all Poles under the name Poland. Let's take responsibility for Poland and create a broad front.” http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/opinie/biedron-dla-se-jestem-liderem-opozycji_1050539.html

-- JAKUB MAJMUREK IN GW ON THE LEFT'S CHANCE: “The Left should take advantage of this. The more PiS pushes for confrontation on worldview issues, the more space there will be for SLD, Razem, or Inicjatywa Polska. Liberal-centrist parties are much less credible in this context. PO is still afraid of offending its conservative supporters and, in the local elections, turns to people like Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski – a politician whose stance on PiS's violation of the constitution deserves as much respect as his views on LGBTQ+ rights. Nowoczesna, in turn, is increasingly perceived as a satellite of Platforma. The largest anti-PiS mobilizations have been under the slogans of defending women's reproductive rights. Surveys also show that – especially among the youngest generation – the electorate is clearly divided by gender. While young men are leaning towards the anti-system right represented by Kukiz, Korwin, and Kaczyński, young women are increasingly finding themselves out of place in the world projected by these men.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23294012,kobiety-geje-i-zasilki-tak-wygramy-z-pis.html

-- SURPRISING STATEMENT BY MAREK SAWICKI ON BONUSES - in GPC: “For several days, the media have been outraged about the bonuses paid to officials in units subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, totaling over PLN 173 million. Meanwhile, former Minister of Agriculture Marek Sawicki from PSL emphasizes that 'it is not appropriate for him to comment' and that 'hard-working officials deserve bonuses.'”

-- SAWICKI'S FULL STATEMENT: “Honestly speaking, as a former minister, it is not appropriate for me to criticize or evaluate my successor. The farmers will evaluate him – Marek Sawicki tells us. According to him, the people working at ARiMR deserve bonuses, but the management representatives do not.”

-- IF THERE'S NO MONEY, HOW ON EARTH DID THE GOVERNMENT FIND MONEY FOR BONUSES? - FAKT: “Parents of disabled people are back in the Sejm. They are fighting for money that PiS promised them long ago, when they were still in opposition. Now Jarosław Kaczyński's party (69) is in power and says there is no money for higher benefits. How on earth did the government find it for bonuses for its ministers!” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/protestowali-za-tuska-wrocili-po-pieniadze/x8e5n81

-- THE THIRD REPUBLIC'S CAMP IS GOING MAD BECAUSE THE STATE IS BUYING SOMETHING, NOT SELLING - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “We see that the camp that ruled Poland in the years 2007-2015, and under different banners for almost a quarter of a century, is driven to madness by the situation where our state buys something. The opposite situation – when Poland gives away, sells, or sells something for a pittance – does not evoke any major emotions on the part of the current opposition. In this light, the economic policy of the Third Republic becomes even more understandable. Because it cannot be a coincidence that the Platforma government sold Polskie Nagrania, for pennies at that, while the PiS government bought a collection, also for a fraction of its value.”

-- WHAT THE CZARTORYSKIS DID WITH THE MONEY PARADOXICALLY CONFIRMS THE VALIDITY OF THE PURCHASE - KARNOWSKI continues: “For a fraction of the value, but still for a large sum of money, which – as we have learned – the Czartoryski family withdrew from Poland. This last event paradoxically confirms the validity of the purchase. Because it proves that if the government had not resolved this matter, we could have faced various surprises in the future, perhaps with attempts to move the artworks out of Poland.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/391050-jeszcze-o-kolekcji-czartoryskich-nie-mozna-sie-dziwic-ze-oboz-iii-rp-wpada-w-szal-gdy-nasze-panstwo-cos-kupuje-a-nie-tylko-sprzedaje

-- ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO PIT US AGAINST JEWS ARE ACTING AGAINST POLAND'S INTERESTS - TOMASZ SAKIEWICZ: “All those who want to pit us against Jews, whether from the Jewish side, the Polish side, or especially the Russian side, are acting primarily against Poland's national interest. The speech by Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, shows that Jews also understand this perfectly well.” https://gpcodziennie.pl/87575-pierwszaodslonapowstaniawarszawskiego.html

-- JERZY HASZCZYŃSKI ON LAUDER'S LANDMARK SPEECH - writes in RZ: “The unusual nature of yesterday's speech also lies in the fact that it was detached from the events of recent weeks. It's as if Lauder wanted to emphasize that the crisis in relations between Poland and Israel, Poland and the USA, and Poland and Jews worldwide, caused by the IPN law, is temporary. Especially compared to the thousand-year coexistence of Jews and Poles on one land, as well as the time that has passed since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It is worth for Polish politicians to adopt a similar long-term perspective. And to think about the future, interpreting the past in a way that takes Jewish sensitivities into account.” http://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/180419195-Warszawski-manifest-szefa-Swiatowego-Kongresu-Zydow.html&cid=44&template=restricted

-- MORAWIECKI'S PACKAGE WILL NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT PIS'S PROTECTIVE PERIOD HAS ENDED - Łukasz Pawłowski: “Sunday's PiS convention, the announcements of 'Morawiecki's Five,' and Beata Szydło's Mama+ program may help regain a few percentage points of support. But they will not avert the crisis within the party and will not change the fact that PiS's protective period has already ended.”

-- ON THE OPPOSITION'S SIDE, THERE IS NO SLOGAN THAT WOULD MAKE VOTERS' HEARTS RACE - Pawłowski continues: “Of course, all this does not mean that opposition parties will be successful in the local elections. On the other side, there is still no slogan that would make voters' hearts race – because neither 'unification' nor 'removing PiS from power' evoke such reactions. Instead of trumpeting about forming a new coalition or fielding a joint candidate here and there, the opposition must finally explain what comes of this unification.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2018/04/19/konwencja-pis-opozycja-poparcie-wybory/

-- MICHAŁ DWORCZYK TELLS ROBERT MAZUREK HE DOESN'T LIKE POLITICS: “You know what? I know it sounds stupid, but I really don't like politics and I don't understand it. I don't understand its mechanisms, how certain decisions are made, I don't feel any of it. I'm a concrete person, I like clear tasks, their execution, that's where I find fulfillment.”

-- DWORCZYK ON NOT SPITTING OUT ANECDOTES LIKE FROM A SLEEVE: “Maybe I just don't know how to talk about it. I'm not a refined intellectual, someone who can put everything into beautiful words. I can't spit out anecdotes like from a sleeve, I don't have brilliant comebacks.”

-- DWORCZYK ON WHETHER HE WILL BE A CANDIDATE IN WARSAW - FRAGMENT OF MAZUREK'S CONVERSATION:

“ - And we weren't supposed to talk about politics. I am a man of hard work. Maybe I'm a bit like Molotov, who was called 'Stone Ass' because he worked very hard and did his job.

- He lasted the longest with Comrade Stalin.

- And he wasn't the most brilliant of his collaborators, was he?

- They said Molotov was 'Stone Ass' because he could sit through long, overnight meetings.

- I prefer the version about Molotov's diligence. Long meetings really tire me out terribly, and I try to avoid them at all costs.

- The head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister cannot.

- I try to limit these meetings to a minimum and either resolve matters in bilateral talks or arrange meetings with more people so that they don't last longer than half an hour. I'm not one for talking, I'm happy when something gets done. I like concrete results.” http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/572987,michal-dworczyk-do-mazurka-nie-lubie-polityki-i-nie-rozumiem-jej.html

-- THE RULING PARTY FEELS SAFER, SO THEY ARE SOFTENING THEIR LANGUAGE ABOUT TIMMERMANS - Adam Leszczyński: “Karski was therefore right when he said there would be no sanctions against Poland. The anger towards Timmermans was proportional to the threat to the PiS government, accused of violating the rule of law. Today, the ruling party feels safer on this front and can even look a bit more favorably upon Soros's evil left-wing mercenary.” https://oko.press/politycy-pis-o-timmermansie-podajemy-mu-reke-zeby-nie-musial-przelykac-tej-zaby-zmiana-tonu/

-- BIRTHDAYS: Piotr Gliński, Andrzej Gałażewski.