-- CIVIC PLATFORM WITHDRAWS UJAZDOWSKI - REACTIONS: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/07/23/

-- POLISH BANKING SECTOR TO SEE DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH - MICHAŁ KRUPIŃSKI WAS A GUEST ON BLOOMBERG TV: Michał Krupiński, CEO of Bank Pekao S.A., on Bloomberg TV in New York: It's an ideal time to be a leading corporate bank in Poland – emphasized the CEO of Bank Pekao SA. – We are one of the largest banks in Poland, a leader in corporate banking. We expect double-digit growth in the Polish banking sector in the near future – he added. We are observing historically high levels of consumer optimism, which is driving the Polish economy. Investment is also a driving factor. The CEO of Pekao S.A. also discussed the situation in emerging markets, global financial markets, and trends in the European banking sector. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-07-20/bank-pekao-ceo-says-no-final-view-on-alior-merger-video

-- JACEK GĄDEK WRITES THAT Duda's QUESTIONS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT PiS WILL NOT AGREE - on gazeta.pl: “Out of the 10 new questions in Andrzej Duda's referendum, a few are surprisingly important for the state. However, the President is sticking to a deadline that PiS does not accept. Thus, the questions have become more serious, and PiS has received a pretext to throw them all in the trash. To everyone's relief.”

-- REFERENDUM DEADLINE AS A PRETEXT FOR PiS TO REJECT THE REFERENDUM - GĄDEK CONTINUES: “And it is not the questions, but the deadline that is a great pretext for Andrzej Duda and PiS to fall out. The State Electoral Commission, scorned by the ruling party, stated a few days ago that the November 10-11 deadline is flawed for many reasons: high costs, legal obstacles, difficulty finding people for electoral commissions, etc. Now PiS – through party spokesperson Beata Mazurek – readily invokes the authority and arguments of the State Electoral Commission. The SEC's stance is an excellent alibi for PiS to cancel the referendum idea. To the relief of both PiS and the President. And since that's the case, let PiS cancel something serious, not something ridiculed.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,161770,23697892,andrzej-duda-wyostrzyl-pytania-i-dal-pis-owi-swietny-pretekst.html

-- THE PEASANTS' ANGER BOILED OVER - PAWEŁ RESZKA in Newsweek: “In a word, the peasants' anger boiled over! This is a black scenario for PiS. Let me remind you that Kaczyński's party rules thanks to the countryside. As recently as February 2018, 71 percent of farmers answered "yes" to the question "does the government's policy create opportunities for improving the economic situation." And now? They are standing on the road with pitchforks!” http://m.newsweek.pl/polska/spoleczenstwo/rolnicy-protestuja-przeciw-pis-a-to-zelazny-elektorat-partii-kaczynskiego,artykuly,430377,1.html

-- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI: WHY SHOULD THE BRIGHTER PART OF THE ELECTORATE SUPPORT A WEAK CANDIDATE? “Bierzyński's theses are wiser. Those who are not with PiS should support Trzaskowski, remaining silent about his weaknesses and gaffes (just as PiS supports Jaki), because Civic Platform isn't helping him, his situation after years of HGW's rule and the reprivatization scandal is difficult, and he himself is hardworking, educated, and experienced at high levels. (...) But this does not invalidate the question of why the brighter part of the Polish electorate must again support a weak candidate to save themselves from his fatal competitor? Why is the democratic, liberal, educated, pro-Western part of our society unable to field representation that is qualitatively closer to our aspirations?”

-- ŻAKOWSKI ON THE DEMORALIZATION OF CIVIC PLATFORM: “The answer is the demoralization of Civic Platform leaders, who believe that whoever they put forward, we must support them because we want to stop PiS. In this way, a capable specialist in European affairs has become a candidate for mayor of a city he knows nothing about, even though Civic Platform has outstanding young politicians (like MP Szczerba or Vice-Mayor Olszewski) who have been dealing with the city for years, and there are many such people in the broader democratic camp.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23704568,ukladanka.html

-- PAWEŁ SIENNICKI WRITES ABOUT TRZASKOWSKI'S ARROGANCE AND EMBARRASSMENT: “Let's look at the case of Civic Platform's candidate for mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski. I know that all comparisons of his campaign-without-a-campaign to Bronisław Komorowski are already boring and unoriginal, and may be seen as pure malice from people who are unfavorably disposed towards him, but what can one do when the candidate himself does everything to make a fool of himself. Truly, Rafał Trzaskowski's idea to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Bronisław Geremek's death not so much with a remembrance of the tragically deceased politician, but with an epitaph for himself, presenting himself as a cosmopolitan who speaks French, appreciates literature and classical painting, will go down in the history of this campaign as an example that begins a chapter starting with the letter 'B' for buffoonery.”

-- SIENNICKI COMPARES CIVIC PLATFORM TO NEYMAR: “It's exactly like with the Brazilian Neymar's performance at the World Cup. We should supposedly remember his dribbling and great goals, but we remember his spectacular falls after actual and alleged fouls, his theatrical rolling on the pitch. No one acted as beautifully as Neymar, no one was the subject of as many jokes as he was. Civic Platform is like the Neymar of Polish politics. It's impossible to find any program beyond 'anti-PiS' there, and now something much more painful is emerging – it turns out there aren't even serious leaders.” http://www.polskatimes.pl/opinie/komentarze/a/pawel-siennicki-neymar-polskiej-polityki-czyli-turlanie-po-trawie,13357923/

-- SORRY, ARE THEY BEATING ME HERE? - Gazeta Wyborcza front page.

-- THE OPPOSITION IS BREEDING A NEW CYBA - GPC front page.

-- TOWARDS THE TRUNK-CARRIAGE OPPOSITION - GPC headline.

-- RZECZPOSPOLITA'S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ON THE AESTHETICS FED TO US BY THE RULING PARTY - IMAGES STRAIGHT OUT OF MARTIAL LAW - writes Bogusław Chrabota: “I ask if Jarosław Kaczyński imagined it this way, because the images we see have nothing to do with the previously declared vision of improving the state. The aesthetics that the ruling party feeds us are images straight out of martial law, full of confrontation, brutal force, and violence. No one remembers consensus, or at least compromise, which should serve to improve the system. Jarosław Kaczyński will probably say: 'rabble-rousing, resistance of the lying elites against necessary changes.' Really? Some might have believed this right after the elections, but not today, when the ruling party uses extremely undemocratic methods in the Sejm (30 seconds for MP Piotrowicz to speak in a discussion at a parliamentary committee), and its face is people who exude vulgarity as much as the infamous MP Pawłowicz.” http://www.rp.pl/W-sieci-opinii/307229937-Chrabota-A-w-tle-milczaca--i-nieczula-Polska.html&template=restricted

-- IS THIS HOW PiS IS IMPLEMENTING ITS PROGRAM? PURE NONSENSE! - Fakt on the justice committee.

-- JAKUB MAJMUREK: A WHIP FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION - writes in Krytyka: “The Sejm has changed its regulations. Thanks to the change, the Sejm presidium gains broader possibilities to punish MPs than before. I do not believe that the Sejm presidium with Terlecki and Kuchciński will use the new regulations for anything other than as a cudgel against the opposition. MP Pawłowicz will not be harmed, and opposition MPs will be punished for the slightest offense against the majesty of the rulers.”

-- MAJMUREK PREFERS SUCH OPPOSITION OVER THE KIND PiS WOULD WISH FOR: “As critical as we may be of the parliamentary opposition we have – and there are millions of reasons for criticism – I truly prefer the existing opposition to the kind that PiS would wish for itself – one that is passive in the face of blatant and obvious lawlessness committed by the ruling party.”

-- PiS IS THE LAST PARTY ONE CAN TRUST ON THE MATTER OF DEBATE STANDARDS - MAJMUREK AGAIN: “Of course, one can agree that parliamentary debate, where participants hurl terms like 'cowards' at each other, is not very sensible. But PiS is currently the last force I could trust when it comes to setting standards for parliamentary debate. It is MPs from this party who call political opponents 'leftist cattle.' Jarosław Kaczyński himself called opposition MPs 'scoundrels' a year ago, and even accused them of killing his brother – which, unlike 'coward,' is indeed an accusation that falls under defamation.” http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/majmurek-bat-na-opozycje-sejmowa/

-- FOR PiS, 15 THOUSAND A MONTH IS NO MONEY - Michał Szułdrzyński in RZ: “This leads to two conclusions. The first is that less than PLN 15,000 is not a high salary for PiS. For many voters of this party, this may be a shock. PiS itself – by lowering the salaries of MPs, senators, and also local government officials – argued that although the average salary in Poland is approaching PLN 5,000 gross per month (which is two-thirds less than the limit set for PiS activists to earn extra income in companies without penalty), the most common salary is PLN 3,500 gross. Let's say it frankly: PLN 15,000 is a considerable income for Warsaw, and outside of large cities, it's a real fortune.” http://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/307229935-Szuldrzynski-15-tys-zl-miesiecznie--Dla-PiS-to-zadne-pieniadze.html&cid=44&template=restricted

-- DZIENNIK WAS THE FIRST TO WRITE ABOUT MANOWSKA'S CANDIDACY FOR FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME COURT: “The current director of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution is the most serious candidate to take over the position after Prof. Małgorzata Gersdorf. According to our information, Prof. Manowska has already reached an agreement with the Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro – Ms. Director Manowska is an outstanding lawyer, a judge with decades of experience, and the author of acclaimed publications. She also has organizational skills – praises one well-informed PiS MP.” http://prawo.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1184984,news-malgorzata-manowska-i-prezes-sn.html

-- MANOWSKA FOR GERSDORF? THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE IS "FOR IT": “'Małgorzata Manowska is an excellent professional. She deserves the position of Supreme Court judge like few others; if she submits her candidacy, she would also be a good First President of the Supreme Court,' Deputy Minister of Justice Łukasz Piebiak told PAP on Sunday.” https://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-manowska-za-gersdorf-wiceminister-sprawiedliwosci-jest-na-ta,nId,2609920

-- THE SOURCE OF LAWLESSNESS IS THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT - Ewa Siedlecka: “The fault of the demonstrators? Undoubtedly, disobeying police orders is a violation of the law. But one must ask, what is the source of these events? The source is the unlawful orders of the Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński, closing the Sejm and its surroundings to citizens. If that hadn't happened, the demonstrations under the Sejm would not have involved storming barricades. Just as the counter-demonstrations related to the Smoleńsk disaster would not have involved blocking the monthly commemorations of the Smoleńsk disaster if the unlawful law hadn't taken away the freedom of assembly from those who contested these commemorations. There would have been no carrying out of Władysław Frasyniuk, no hundreds of cases handled by the prosecutor's office and court proceedings. There would have been no dozens of cases against the defenders of the Białowieża Forest if it hadn't been cut down against the law. The source of lawlessness is the current government. Its tools – for now – are the police and the prosecutor's office. Now it is fighting to have another tool: the courts.” https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2018/07/21/zrodlem-bezprawia-jest-obecna-wladza/?nocheck=1

-- EWA SIEDLECKA ON POLICE OFFICERS HAVING DOUBTS ABOUT ORDERS: “Police officers are starting to have doubts about whether they want to carry out orders against protesters. It even happened that they carried them out so unenthusiastically that the new Marshal's Guard had to replace them, acting outside the parliamentary area, which was an overreach of authority.”

-- SIEDLECKA WRITES THAT PROTESTS ARE SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IF SOMETHING IS SMOLDERING, IT CAN IGNITE: “Protests are significant because they show that Poles still demand the return of the rule of law. If something is smoldering – it can always ignite. And protesters are like a pang of conscience for those who don't want to or are afraid. Finally, 'the avalanche changes its course depending on the stones it rolls over,' which is perfectly illustrated by the history of the PRL.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1757308,1,panstwo-prawa-nie-jest-stracone.read

-- ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IS STRONG ON HOW PiS TREATS THE OPPOSITION - writes in RZ: “This way of proceeding and treating parliamentarians is an insult to the state and the institution of elections. It diminishes citizens and the entire democratic procedure. And it seems that these are the real reasons for the next escalation of penalties for the opposition: the erosion of the last remnants of seriousness and authority of elected representatives of the people. Sessions can be held even less frequently. And perhaps one day it will be easier to shut down this entire parliamentary business?” http://www.rp.pl/Analizy/307229954-Zuzanna-Dabrowska-Poslowie-nie-sa-niesfornymi-nastolatkami.html&template=restricted

-- END OF PURSUIT FOR OLD DEBTS - Fakt Praises Ziobro: “The debts of millions of Poles have just expired, and debt collection companies will no longer be able to pursue anyone for them! A law has come into force which stipulates that debts will become statute-barred after six years.” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/ziobro-dla-faktu-koniec-z-naciaganiem-polakow/qcqw2dq

-- BIRTHDAYS: Waldy Dzikowski, Robert Kropiwnicki, Karol Maciej Darmoros, Maciej Zauszkiewicz, Jan Tymowski.