-- PORĘBA ON THE OPPOSITION'S CAMPAIGNS BEING RUN BY THE MEDIA - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/10/05/

-- MORAWIECKI WAS RECORDED AS A PRIVATE PERSON - PAWEŁ SZEFERNAKER IN CONVERSATION WITH RZ: “Another difference is that Prime Minister Morawiecki was recorded as a private person, not a minister. In these conversations, he speaks about problems such as the economic crisis, the unfair distribution of capital in the global economy, or the issue of migration. Today, as the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki is solving these problems.”

-- SZEFERNAKER ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF ABOLISHING THE VOIVODE'S OFFICE, AS PROPOSED BY PO - says RZ: “PO explicitly speaks about abolishing the voivode's office. This would lead to the abolition of consolidated administration. It would mean verticalization, subordination of all services, inspections, and guards, currently subordinate to the voivode (14 different services and inspections), to the central government in Warsaw. This would mean weakening the state, the effectiveness of services, but also centralization. For example, the policy related to state security. Today, one policy is implemented in 16 voivodeships. Without it, there would be 16 different security policies.”

-- DELIBERATE WEAKENING OF THE STATE - SZEFERNAKER CONTINUES: “I am surprised that PO is using such slogans in the campaign. In my opinion, they are completely thoughtless. Either this slogan is purely propaganda, or PO wants to deliberately weaken the state. We want the state to be safe and cohesive, not weakened and chaotic.” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/310049910-Pawel-Szefernaker-Morawiecki-byl-w-restauracji-Sowa-i-Przyjaciele-prywatnie.html&template=restricted

-- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ AND ANDRZEJ GAJCY ON NOT EVERYONE IN PIS BEING WORRIED BY THE OPOSTED TAPES: “However, the direct enemy of Morawiecki, Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, as well as Mariusz Kamiński, who is in conflict with the prime minister, benefit the most. Hence the rumors that the materials went to Onet from special services or the prosecutor's office – structures headed by Kamiński and Ziobro. This is complete nonsense, because the files are now in possession of the Supreme Court, which is considering the cassation of Marek Falenta, the main director of the tape saga. And it was the Supreme Court that gave us official permission to access the files, considering the arguments that a truthful presentation of the findings regarding the tapes in Onet serves the public interest.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/afera-tasmowa-tasmy-oslabia-premiera-morawieckiego-analiza/18z4ne8

-- THE TAPES ARE HITTING PIS LIKE A BOOMERANG - JAKUB MAJMUREK: “Brutally playing the tape issue four years ago, the PiS elites were convinced they had found stones to pelt the political opposition with. Now it turns out that at least some of these stones are returning like a boomerang. The tapes were one of many factors thanks to which the ruling camp won the elections. If it started to crumble because of them, it could be considered a kind of historical justice. Although at the same time it would provide further proof of how the Polish state remains solely a theoretical entity.” https://www.newsweek.pl/opinie/tasma-mateusza-morawieckiego-klopotliwe-nagranie-z-sowa-i-przyjaciele/yef9zq5

-- THE OPPOSITION SEES IT IS LOSING TO THE GOVERNMENT'S PROFESSIONALISM - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “One can argue that Poland, for the first time in many, many years, has the capacity for such an offensive in such demanding areas of the global economy. And here too, perhaps, is one of the answers to the question of the reasons for the increasingly sharp attacks on the prime minister in recent months. The camp of the Third Polish Republic feels that it is increasingly losing to the government's professionalism, that the excellent results and investment momentum of companies such as PZU, PEKAO SA, PKO BP, Orlen also discredit their eight years of achievements. But it also causes nervousness, because it is clear that Poland's development dynamics are slowly becoming a more important determinant of our position than regurgitated libels from Michnik's newspaper.” https://wpolityce.pl/gospodarka/415028-to-naprawde-wazny-dzien-dla-polski-tak-musimy-walczyc

-- THE AUTHORITIES ARE FLIRTING WITH THE EPIDEMIC - GW lead story.

-- 47% OF PARENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE ON VACCINATIONS, 41% OF PARENTS REFUSING VACCINATION SHOULD BE PUNISHED - HIGH HEELS POLL - described by Krzysztof Pacewicz in GW: “As the 'Wysokie Obcasy' poll shows, as many as 47% of Polish women and men believe that parents have the right to refuse mandatory vaccinations, and only 41% support punishing parents who do not vaccinate their children. Among PiS voters, 54% choose the answer 'A parent has the right to make such a decision', and among Kukiz'15 voters – as many as 60%. The opposition electorate (KO, SLD, PSL, Partia Razem, and Robert Biedroń's grouping) has a completely different opinion on this matter – 67% believe that parents refusing vaccinations should be punished, and only 24% believe that parents have the right to refuse vaccination.” http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/7,163229,24004273,47-proc-polek-i-polakow-uwaza-ze-rodzic-ma-prawo-nie-szczepic.html

-- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ ON THE LIFE-OR-DEATH STRUGGLE BETWEEN PIS AND PSL: “The network of interests and strong roots in the region mean that the Ludowcy's strength is much greater in provincial Poland than in Warsaw. By poaching voters from PSL, PiS not only weakens a potential coalition partner for PO but also fights for voters in its own territory, as in some rural areas, support for PiS significantly exceeded 50 percent. That is why this struggle is a matter of life and death.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/181009640-Wybory-samorzadowe-Walka-toczy-sie-tez-na-wsi.html&template=restricted

-- RAFAŁ TRZASKOWSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH GAZETA STOŁECZNA SAYS THAT THE PURCHASE OF APARTMENTS WITH A 90% DISCOUNT IS UNFAIR AND THAT HE IS NOT A POPULIST: “My competitor is a born populist. I am not someone who will say what people want to hear for public applause. I believe that the stock of communal apartments should increase, not decrease. I believe that a purchase with a 90% discount is simply unfair, and moreover, it acts against the city. A large stock of communal apartments plus affordable rental housing, which we want to build, will influence housing prices in the city. Does this mean I say no, never? I am generally not in favor of divesting apartments, but there are various situations. For example, people gave up their private apartments to get a communal apartment. We will look into the whole problem. There are situations that arise from economic calculation: a tenement house where out of several dozen units, only two are municipal communal apartments. Perhaps it is worth considering selling them with a discount, but certainly not 90 percent.”

-- RAFAŁ TRZASKOWSKI ON THE QUESTION FROM GW WHY HIS PROGRAM DOES NOT INCLUDE AN OFFER FOR LGBTQ: “I will say frankly: my priorities stem from conversations with Varsovians on the streets and at meetings. The truth is, however it may sound, that at every meeting we discuss education, transportation, hot water, and central heating. Not refugees. This does not mean that I will not deal with it. I am not ashamed and I am not afraid of this topic. I speak of an open Warsaw, I say that the worst thing that could happen is a city of fascist marches, a city where if someone looks different or speaks a different language, they get beaten up. This is the greatest shame imaginable and something that infuriates me. I am someone who will be the first to fight against it. However, I will not declare that Warsaw will accept refugees, because it is 100% the responsibility of the government. I can declare that we will support non-governmental organizations that help them. We will organize language lessons for them. I will fight for everyone who lives in Warsaw to feel welcome here.” http://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,24004273,trzaskowski-moj-konkurent-jest-rasowym-populista-ja-nie-jestem.html

-- TOMASZ PIETRYGA ON HOW THE IRISH COURT'S REQUEST HELPS PIS - writes in RZ: “And it is unlikely that judges will be inclined to question their independence and the independence of the court in which they work. It is one thing to make a general, abstract statement that independence is threatened, and another to refer to specific examples or behaviors from one's own environment. Therefore, it should be expected that further answers to questions from foreign courts may be similar to the Irish case. (...) As a result, the more questions and similar answers, the more, paradoxically, PiS may have arguments that the reforms carried out have not harmed the rule of law in Poland.” https://www.rp.pl/Sedziowie-i-sady/181009656-Sady-z-Europy-pomoga-PiS---komentuje-Tomasz-Pietryga.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Michał Lorenc (senior), Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Krzysztof Król.