-- WPOLITYCE ON PŁAŻYŃSKI'S INTERESTING CAMPAIGN: "Płażyński has opted for direct contact with the residents of Gdańsk. Every day, without media fanfare, he will meet with them in various districts. - These are hundreds of invaluable conversations about Gdańsk seen from the perspective of local communities. I am receiving an excellent reception; people are pointing out specific things that need fixing in their districts. Our program will be a very precise response to these needs," he adds.

https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/404554-ciekawa-kampania-w-gdansku-platforma-sie-kloci-i-dzieli

-- MULARCZYK'S WIFE IS A PIS CANDIDATE IN NOWY SĄCZ: "According to information obtained by Radio Kraków, Iwona Mularczyk's participation in the elections in Nowy Sącz is a surprise. Within the Law and Justice party circles, it was rumored that MP Mularczyk himself would run for the city's mayoral seat."

http://krakow.wyborcza.pl/krakow/7,44425,23700573,wybory-2018-zona-posla-mularczyka-powalczy-o-prezydenture-w.html

-- A GLITCH IN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE TEAM, HGW REMOVES DEPUTY MAYOR - Michał Wojtczuk in Stołeczna: "Decisions couldn't be made. The Mayor lost patience and tightened the reins," say officials at the capital's city hall, explaining Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz's decision to strip Deputy Mayor Witold Pahl of his oversight of city companies.

http://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,23697125,zgrzyt-w-ekipie-gronkiewicz-waltz-wiceprezydent-odsuniety-od.html

-- PRESIDENT'S APPROVAL RATINGS DROP - POLL: Kantar Public notes that the president's approval rating has worsened this month. Compared to June figures, the percentage of positive assessments of Andrzej Duda's work has decreased by 2 percentage points, while negative assessments have increased by three percentage points. The percentage of undecided individuals has decreased by one percentage point.

https://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-spadek-notowan-prezydenta-i-rzadu-sondaz,nId,2609607

-- GIVE ME CANDIDATES, AND I WILL VOTE FOR THEM, GIVE ME SERIOUS OPPOSITION LEADERS - Agnieszka Wiśniewska, editor-in-chief of Krytyka Polityczna: "I am not so naive as to write: give people election programs. I say: give people serious opposition leaders. (...) But even the best political ideas must be backed by people – authentic and concrete, those who want to win something more than a power struggle within the Lower Silesian Civic Platform. Support the protests, but don't make them the culmination of the political struggle. Give us candidates who can stammer more than 'stop PiS' and inspire more than - with all due respect - the Citizens of the Republic of Poland. These are the people we will vote for, and with them, we will defend democracy, remove PiS from power, and change Poland (only that much and as much as that)."

http://krytykapolityczna.pl/felietony/agnieszka-wisniewska/protesty-sejm-opozycja-sad-najwyzszy/

-- HOW TO BE 100% RIGHT AND LOSE - ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI: "The opposition at the Sejm achieved a very Polish victory: it won morally and completely lost politically. It was 100% right, and yet people preferred to go to beer gardens by the Vistula rather than stand up for the constitution. Here are three reasons: an abstract goal, the radicalism of the protest, and a lack of trust in the leaders."

-- ACCORDING TO LESZCZYŃSKI, POLES REJECT RADICALISM OF METHODS, AND THE OPPOSITION CANNOT EXPLAIN IT: "Media have been flooded with images of Klementyna Suchanowska, handcuffed, who tried to spray paint an inscription on the Sejm. Poles may react negatively to the radicalism of the protest, just as they reacted negatively a few years ago to screws being thrown at a coal company building (2015) or fireworks at the Prime Minister's Chancellery (2008). Daily life, let's recall, proceeds quite normally, which may not justify radical acts in the mind of an ordinary citizen. There are no troops on the streets. People are not disappearing at night. Yes, I know that the dismantling of democracy happens through other methods. Yes, that also outrages me. From the perspective of an average citizen, however, nothing extraordinary is happening, and the opposition cannot explain to him that it is."

http://newsweek.pl/opinie/jak-miec-100-procent-racji-i-przegrac-czyli-o-demonstracjach-pod-sejmem-,artykuly,430357,1.html

-- THE AUTHORITIES WILL BE LEFT WITH THEMSELVES - Agata Szczęśniak in Gazeta.pl: "However, this has consequences not only for those who see horror in it. It also has consequences for the ruling camp. With the final takeover of the judiciary, the government's protective period is ending. By achieving success, PiS is simultaneously taking a powerful step towards its own defeat. The authorities will be faced with themselves and will see themselves reflected within. (...) Well, PiS has just finished with post-communism. Is someone still bothering you? Seriously? You've swept them all away. The authorities will be left with themselves. From now on, it will be the system that this government plans for itself. A country that it arranges according to its own design. Is something not working out? Is something going wrong? Sorry, it wasn't Tusk and Lis who plotted it. It was Ziobro and Morawiecki."

http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,161770,23699391,szczesniak-konczy-sie-okres-ochronny-wladzy-skonczyla-sie.html

-- THEATRE OF THE ABSURD - Anna Gielewska: "The new regulations apply to Iwulski, who sentenced opposition members, as well as Judge Stanisław Zabłocki, who defended them in the PRL. Not to mention that their main face is the PZPR prosecutor Piotrowicz. In this theatre of the absurd, there is a prevailing sense that one doesn't really know what it's all about. In politics, when you don't know what it's about, it's always about power. Immediately after the vote, most MPs rushed off on vacation. Their exit from the building took no more than 30 seconds."

https://www.wprost.pl/tylko-u-nas/10140770/30-sekund-milczenia-czyli-pis-reformuje-sad-najwyzszy.html

-- GOOD CHANGE ARE CHICKENHEARTS, THERE'S A WAY TO DEAL WITH THEM - Marek Beylin in GW: "That it's not that difficult has already been proven by French President Macron, a capable and astute politician, but certainly not a genius. In the 2017 election campaign, when it seemed that the nationalist National Front, even if it didn't take power, would certainly solidify its power in French politics, he pushed the nationalists to the margins. He opted for a supra-party alliance of democrats from the left to the republican right, aimed at radically renewing French democracy. What Macron will achieve from this, we will see. But the hard fact is that with such an alliance and a vision of new democracy, he mobilized the civic energy of millions of French people. He restored, at least for a time, faith in the meaning of democracy, detaching it from the FN."

-- BEYLIN ON THE MACRON MODEL: "Macron also provided an example of how to do it. In his campaign, he did not address all French people at once but personalized the democratic narrative. He spoke to workers about the dignity of work, to those afraid of marginalization - about republican equality, he promised entrepreneurs a rational economy, to the youth - a fight against unemployment, to women - a war against sexism, and to social movements - greater influence on power. By presenting a vision of a great France in a great Europe, he reconciled sovereigntists and enthusiasts of the Union. It was always 'and, and,' never 'either, or.'"

http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,23696809,dobra-zmiana-to-cieniasy-poradzimy-sobie-z-nimi-latwo-jesli.html

-- KACZYŃSKI, THE SUPREME JUDGE - headline on the front page of GW.

-- PARLIAMENT'S VERDICT ON THE COURTS - headline in GW.

-- NOTHING LIKE A GOOD THRILLER ON THE BEACH - cartoon by Andrzej Rysuje in GW: "I read it, it's weak, Duda pardons him halfway through the book."

-- IF POLES DON'T GET OUTRAGED, AFTER THE HOLIDAYS THEY WILL RETURN TO A COUNTRY RESEMBLING TURKEY - MARCIN ANTOSIEWICZ: "This is the last moment to defend democracy in Poland. If PiS shortens the constitutional term of Małgorzata Gersdorf and takes over the Supreme Court, the separation of powers will end in Poland, and the judiciary will come under the political control of the ruling party. That is why social organizations are calling for protests. The amendment to the KRS and SN adopted by the Sejm can still be rejected by the Senate or the president."

http://newsweek.pl/polska/polityka/jesli-polacy-sie-nie-obudza-to-po-urlopie-wroca-do-kraju-na-ksztalt-turcji-i-bialorusi,artykuly,430393,1.html

-- ANOTHER BUFFOONERY FROM A POLITICIAN EVERYONE SUSPECTS OF BEING A BUFFOON - Michał Szułdrzyński: "Besides the fact that the post is quite pretentious, its problem is that it reveals Trzaskowski's unbelievable ego, for whom the round, tenth anniversary of Geremek's death becomes an occasion not so much to remember the politician as rather to promote himself, to show himself as a well-traveled person, knowing French, literature, or classical painting. Simply put, another buffoonery from a politician whom everyone suspects of being a buffoon."

-- LIBERALS, LIKE TRZASKOWSKI, DO A LOT TO MAKE THEMSELVES UNLIKABLE - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI'S CONCLUSION: "Thus, liberalism becomes a common enemy of the new right and the new left – precisely as an elitist doctrine. Well, liberals – like Trzaskowski himself – do a lot to make themselves unlikable. Anti-elites of all countries are therefore joining forces."

http://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1381561-Antyelitarysci-laczcie-sily.html

-- JAKUB BIERZYŃSKI WRITES IN GW THAT JAKI CAN WIN: "PiS and its affiliates have an advantage in this confrontation. Patryk Jaki can only win these elections. If he loses, he will turn the defeat into a success by boasting of a high result achieved in the opponent's stronghold."

-- BIERZYŃSKI ON TRZASKOWSKI'S CAMPAIGN - QUOTES A PO POLITICIAN: "A well-known PO activist confirms: - There is no help in this campaign. We are drifting. If Trzaskowski's campaign is to be a benchmark for a nationwide struggle for souls, then it is weak. We will lose."

-- BIERZYŃSKI QUOTES A DISGRUNTLED TRZASKOWSKI: " - There is full support within the party, but less so from the media establishment - there is no preferential treatment there. The same people who once urged me to run are now turning up their noses at my every move. That's probably how it has to be, because everyone wants to show that they are very critical. (...) Media critical of the government are repeating the slogans of PiS propaganda. Journalists in so-called our media, when they come for an interview, ask the same questions. And again, instead of talking about Warsaw, about the vision of the city, I have to explain that I'm not from Krakow, that I had nothing to do with reprivatization... And so it goes."

-- JAKI USES ALL RESOURCES - BIERZYŃSKI CONTINUES: "And the opposing camp is incredibly disciplined. Jaki consistently uses all resources – especially his position in the government. He attributes the merits of the Ministry of Justice to himself, presenting himself as a determined, effective, 'proactive' politician."

-- BIERZYŃSKI ON TRZASKOWSKI'S OVERLY TALKED-OUT CAMPAIGN: "Unfortunately, his campaign has the same flaw as all campaigns of liberal candidates to date. It is mercilessly over-talked. Jaki presents his program in a few simple points. Trzaskowski, on the other hand, 'gets a doctorate' on every topic. The chapter 'Warsaw for Women' has six pages of solid text, 'Planned Warsaw' - eight, and so on. Total: eight chapters, 51 pages. A set for experts. Nothing for the voter. No synthesis. Although it seemed that after the last campaign, based by the victorious party on three catchy postulates hammered into people's heads every day, liberal democrats would learn something from their opponents. Unfortunately. They are repeating the same mistakes, although Trzaskowski promises improvement. We'll see."

http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,23698543,jaki-vs-trzaskowski-do-przerwy-3-0.html

-- WITOLD GADOMSKI ON THE LEFT HELPING JAKI - writes in GW: "On social media, the left is conducting a campaign to ridicule the PO-Nowoczesna candidate, reminiscent of the one directed against Bronisław Komorowski in 2015. They are convincing their readers that voting for Trzaskowski is embarrassing. Without admitting it directly, they stand firmly behind Jaki. Firstly – he is 'closer in class' than the elitist Trzaskowski. Secondly – the left hopes that the Platform's defeat will create a gap that it can fill. This is an absurd calculation, but it is not the first absurd idea from this environment."

-- GADOMSKI: TRZASKOWSKI'S POST IS TOO SELF-FOCUSED - GADOMSKI: "I don't recall these columnists giggling about Jaki, who posted a text on Facebook about the 'German hatakumba,' in which he also made spelling mistakes. Trzaskowski's post can be considered awkward because it is too self-focused, not on Geremek, but boasting about successes, which are, by the way, real, is one of the lesser human flaws. 'Serious' columnists, instead of assessing the candidates' competence or showing the significance of the Warsaw elections for Polish politics, focused on the stage directions. This is not accidental."

http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,23698882,lewica-ma-beke-z-trzaskowskiego-podziwia-jakiego-bo-brzydzi.html

-- RAFAŁ'S EAR - MOCKING TRZASKOWSKI - "Rafał wins the elections. Deputy Mayor Kinga arrives at the office." https://twitter.com/UchoRafala

-- ROBERT BIEDROŃ ON DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE PLATFORM - in an interview with Piotr Witwicki in RZ: "The PO had a chance to show its courage. They did nothing. Many people are disappointed and no longer want to vote for them."

-- BIEDROŃ ON THE TECHNOCRATS FROM THE PLATFORM AND A NARRATIVE ADEQUATE TO OUR TIMES: "Certainly, there is a need to create an alternative to what exists. Many people have no one to vote for and no one to identify with. They don't like PiS, but they feel deceived by the technocrats from Platforma. The fact that we will reject historical narratives and turn on the hot water doesn't appeal to anyone anymore. It is 2018, and many Polish women and men would like to hear a narrative adequate to contemporary times."

http://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/307199898-Robert-Biedron-PiS-wykorzystalo-frustracje-ale-nie-rozwiazalo-problemow.html

-- POLAND NEEDS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE ALLIANCE WITH THE USA - RADEK SIKORSKI IN GW: "We need to look for alternatives. The option is the Union or a regional coalition – NATO within NATO. At one time, we created a format of cooperation with Romania, the Baltic states, and Scandinavian countries. A group of countries emerged that truly have reason to fear Russia and to jointly secure themselves against the threat. The European Union should become a military force. The EU treaties contain stronger provisions on security solidarity than the Washington Treaty. But force must stand behind them. The Union must move to action."

http://wyborcza.pl/7,75399,23699577,sikorski-blisko-rosji-trudno-nam-spac-spokojnie-unia-europejska.html

-- SE ON WASSERMANN'S VISITS TO KACZYŃSKI: "Every day, bodyguards help the chairman, who constantly walks with a crutch, get from his home to the party office. And there, politicians from the front pages report for duty. On Thursday, the chairman was visited by, among others, Health Minister Łukasz Szumowski (46), Interior Minister Joachim Brudziński (50), Deputy Minister from the Prime Minister's Chancellery Paweł Szefernaker (31), and... Małgorzata Wassermann (40), head of the Amber Gold commission, who is soon to question Tusk. - The chairman likes her. He places great hope in her - a PiS politician tells us."

https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/kaczynski-pomaga-wassermann-zniszczyc-tuska-aa-PU1J-f2ys-PqxK.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Jacek Sauk, Wojciech Kasprowski, Adam Malczak, SUNDAY: Krystyna Skowrońska, Michał Dworczyk, Mateusz Sabat, Jakub Kurasz.