-- SZEFERNAKER AND PIS ARE STRONGLY DISTANCING THEMSELVES FROM ŻALEK: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/05/09/

-- THE PARTY 'RAZEM' (TOGETHER) HAS PROPOSALS FEATURED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF RZESZOWSKIE NOWINY.

-- MINIMUM WAGE WILL JUMP SIGNIFICANTLY - front page of DGP: “PLN 2217 per month for full-time employment and PLN 14.50 per hour for contract work – this will be the minimum wage at least next year. The legally guaranteed increase in the minimum wage will be as much as PLN 117. This is according to calculations by Employers of Poland based on macroeconomic forecasts used to prepare next year's budget. The government will present these to social partners by May 10th.” http://gospodarka.dziennik.pl/praca/artykuly/573998,podwyzka-pensja-minimalna-wynagrodzenie-2217-zlotych.html

-- GAZETA POLSKA ATTACKS THE PRESIDENT - as Piotr Lisiewicz writes: “President Andrzej Duda has abandoned the 'good change' program in Poland, hindering reforms in the military, delaying judicial reform, and preventing a breakthrough in symbolic politics, namely the degradation of Jaruzelski and Kiszczak. Despite this, he would like to be recognized as a statesman. So he found a shortcut.”

-- DR. CHWEDORUK ON THE EXHAUSTION OF THE TOTAL OPPOSITION MODEL FOLLOWING THE IPSOS POLL FOR OKO: “The poll also indicates that the opposition should consider that this model of opposition – described by critics as 'total' – has simply exhausted itself. It only guarantees the status quo. However, the opposition's problem is that attempts to move away from the current narrative of 'the street and abroad' may alienate some opposition voters.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/393394-nasz-wywiad-prof-chwedoruk-o-sondazu-ipsos-model-opozycyjnosci-przez-krytykow-nazwany-totalnym-zwyczajnie-sie-wyczerpal

-- THE GOVERNMENT HAS NOT COUNTED THE DISABLED - front page of GW: “The law that PiS wants to use to silence the caregivers protesting in the Sejm may blow up the NFZ (National Health Fund) budget, which is already short of money. The head of the Fund is underestimating the number of people the law will cover, and the project lacks financial calculations.” http://wyborcza.pl/TylkoZdrowie/7,137474,23372232,ustawa-o-pomocy-niepelnosprawnym-pochlonelaby-miliardy-to.html

-- MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI WRITES ABOUT MORAWIECKI'S ABILITY TO EXERCISE STRONG LEADERSHIP: “The PiS camp has many weaknesses and should account for many sins, as it is a human collective, inherently prone to making mistakes. But the main political vector aligns with the promises made in 2015, there are no lack of arguments, positives clearly outweigh failures, differences in political DNA are evident, and Prime Minister Morawiecki possesses the ability to exercise strong leadership. However, as I wrote at the beginning of this text, it won't happen on its own. And it cannot be that we only see all this when the opposition throws down the gauntlet. That's not enough. To win clearly, one must also choose the topics of discussion oneself. And with such a total media advantage on the other side, it's simply a condition for survival.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/393437-ta-debata-to-kolejny-dowod-ze-pis-powinien-byc-stale-w-ofensywie-mocne-wystapienie-morawieckiego

-- THE INSULARITY OF WARSAW INTELLECTUALS HELPS JAKI - Adam Leszczyński in Krytyka: “The liberal Warsaw intelligentsia lives in fear that a 'person from Opole' will become the Mayor of Warsaw. At the same time, they are doing everything to make him win – because an intellectual from a good family rarely remembers that Warsaw is not just Konstancin, Mokotów, and Żoliborz.”

-- PERHAPS TRZASKOWSKI WAS SLEEPING, PERHAPS WRITING A FACEBOOK POST - Leszczyński continues: “What was the favorite of the race, Rafał Trzaskowski, doing at that moment? It's unknown. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he was greeting the morning in the utthita trikonasana pose, approaching a state of deep relaxation. Maybe he was preparing baked eggs with kale and prosciutto for breakfast. Maybe he had already woken up, eaten, and was writing another Facebook post similar to the one from November 3, 2017, in which he offered 'PiS haters' that he would perform self-vetting. (...) This is a very nice life story of a representative of the Polish elite, from a family belonging to the elite for generations, living in an elite place and leading an elite life. The point is – which Patryk Jaki knows, and his opponent doesn't necessarily – that an elite biography does not win elections in a democracy.”

-- THIS COULD BE THE MOST CLASS-BASED CAMPAIGN IN YEARS - Leszczyński continues: “For an elite voter, Jaki in his entirety is embarrassing, even when he says that the city will invest in parking lots, which will be useful for people commuting from the outer, poorer districts to the center – while the elite believes that bike paths should be expanded, because cars are unhealthy and smell. They are unhealthy and smelly, but that's not the point: elections are not won by those who are right. So, an interesting duel awaits us. This could be the most class-based election campaign in years. If it continues like this, the Warsaw intellectual may face another shock, which the poor thing will again fail to understand.” http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/miasto/sloik-kontra-chlopiec-z-elity-jak-wsobnosc-inteligencji-warszawskiej-pomaga-patrykowi-jakiemu/

-- WOJCIECH MUCHA ON NOT LETTING ONESELF BE STUPIDLY PROVOKED - writes in GPC: “The issue of the Katyń monument in Jersey City is a task for the Consul General in New York. One should also not allow Mayor Fulop to play the martyr, and this is served by giving the matter importance by the Polish government. As Professor Marek Jan Chodakiewicz says, one must not allow oneself to be stupidly provoked.”

-- CHANGES TO STREET NAMES ARE AS BLEAK AS THE POLITICS IN NEW JERSEY - Leszek Miller: “Steve Fulop, by stating that the Katyń monument 'has no significance for the United States' and accusing Poland of participating in the Holocaust, is pursuing historical policy in his own way. In Poland, historical policy is pursued by Orwell's children employed at the IPN (Institute of National Remembrance) and government officials. They, not local governments or residents, decide on the names of streets, squares, parks, and the patrons of schools or universities. With equally bleak consequences as along the Hudson River.” http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/opinie/leszek-miller-co-sie-zdarzylo-w-jersey-city_1053203.html

-- A PIS MP DISDAINS THE SICK - front page of Fakt on Żalek.

-- INSTEAD OF MONEY, HE OFFERS THEM CONTEMPT - Fakt continues on Żalek.

-- PIS POLITICIANS ARE TAKING OFF THEIR MASKS - Mikołaj Wójcik in Fakt: “It only took two years in power for PiS politicians to start taking off the masks of caring and empathetic defenders of the weakest. Rewards? They deserve them. Protests? Inspired. The disabled? Used as human shields. What else will we hear? That Poles must support PiS, or return money from the 500+ program or the wyprawka (childbirth grant)?”

-- BRUSSELS IS SURPRISED THAT POLAND IS HAPPY ABOUT THE BUDGET - Anna Słojewska in RZ: “The European Commission has presented a draft of the new EU budget for 2021-2027. Representatives of member states at ambassadorial level have already held an initial discussion on the matter. As reported by one of the meeting participants, 'everyone was amazed that Poland is satisfied.' It is indeed astonishing how one can be happy about Poland losing billions of euros. There are two reasons. Either the government doesn't understand it at all, or it has decided to remain silent because it has other priorities at the moment. Specifically, one: ending the rule of law procedure. And it doesn't want to antagonize the Commission.” http://www.rp.pl/Rzecz-o-polityce/180509581-Bruksela-tnie-budzet-a-Warszawa-sie-cieszy.html

-- MISIEWICZ ATTACKS KARNOWSKI: “For now, my lawyers will issue a correction to the editorial office of the weekly 'Sieci' and other editorial offices that have adopted this false narrative. I would like to sincerely thank the Central Anticorruption Bureau for initiating an audit at Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, for uncovering irregularities, identifying those responsible, and for simultaneously completely clearing me of the accusations that Messrs. Marcin Wikło and Marek Pyza want to press against me. By adorning the article with my photo, they are trying to slander the work of the officers. They are trying to accuse me of knowing someone. And why aren't they accusing editor Karnowski of conducting an interview with Jerzy Urban in 2009? He knew him too!” http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/opinie/misiewicz-dla-se-a-michal-karnowski-znal-jerzego-urbana_1053248.html

-- NO TRIP, JUST STENCH LEFT - Fakt on Gliński and PFN (Polish National Foundation).

-- KĘDRYNA TURNS 50, BIRTHDAY TODAY: Marcin Kędryna, Marcin Twaróg, Roman Karkosik, Marek Cichocki, Jerzy Szteliga, Leszek Czarnecki, Stanisław Pięta.