-- PARTIES ARE SENDING SUTRYK THE BILL FOR SUPPORT - JACEK HARŁUKOWICZ IN LOCAL GW: “Dariusz Kowalczyk (PO) became the president of the municipal company Wrocławskie Mieszkania at the beginning of the year. - This is the price that Mayor Sutryk has to pay for the party's support in the elections. There is a whole list of people in the city hall whose employment is demanded not only by Platforma but also by Nowoczesna - we hear from the office. (...) There are more candidates willing to 'share responsibility for co-governing the city'. As we hear unofficially, Platforma expects that Ewa Wolak, the head of its city council club (she would like to head the Wrocław Centre for Teacher Development), and Marek Łapiński, the chairman of the Civic Coalition club in the regional assembly, will find employment in the city hall. Under his appointment, Piotr Waśniewski took over the management of the city-owned Śląsk in December (the former club president, Marcin Przychodny, became the president of Stadion Wrocław)”.

http://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,24333486,partie-wystawiaja-rachunek-za-poparcie-sutryka.html

-- PIŚ VOTERS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR REPRESENTATIVES - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ QUOTES INTERNAL RESEARCH - INCREASE IN PIŚ ELECTORATE'S CONCERN FOR RULE OF LAW: “However, PiS politicians themselves continue to discuss among themselves surveys conducted at their request – those that are not made public. And there is something to discuss. It turns out that PiS voters are a bit different from their representatives. In November 2018, as many as 54% indicated 'concern for the rule of law' as the primary advantage of ideal leaders. This was the most popular trait in politics among them. Decidedly distant, for example, from 'effectiveness in solving social problems' (only 34%) or 'creating equal opportunities for all' (28%)”.

-- THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RULE OF LAW HAS INCREASED SHARPLY - ZAREMBA FURTHER IN RZ: “Meanwhile, it was between July and November that the weight of the rule of law issue sharply increased among the PiS electorate (from 38 to 54%). In 2015, it was indicated by only 22% of right-wing voters. It's as if – at least to some extent – the warnings from the European Union, which is still very popular among them, have also reached PiS supporters. In any case, this interpretation cannot be ruled out.”

-- ZAREMBA ON COSTLY BRAWLS: “Revolution as a tool for consolidating institutional influence has encountered effective resistance from European institutions. It is difficult to contend with it without increasingly costly brawls – especially treacherous ones, as the majority on the right is also 'pro-Europe'. The opportunistic PiS electorate, the one that supported the right not out of a search for historical and ideological satisfaction, no longer expects further social benefits, or at least believes in them less and less. Instead, they expect to calmly enjoy stabilization.”

-- PIŚ ELECTORATE IS MUCH MORE LIBERAL WHEN IT COMES TO FAITH - ZAREMBA QUOTES PARUCH'S RESEARCH: “At various internal meetings, PiS analysts, led by Prof. Waldemar Paruch, revealed that the right-wing electorate is much more liberal in its views on faith and customs than its political representation. This led to a sharp retreat on the issue of abortion (the majority of these voters are for the abortion compromise). But what to do with the information that even on the issue of registered partnerships, this electorate is increasingly hesitant? And they support Kaczyński's camp, presumably for other reasons.”

https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/301039962-Prawica-pod-sciana-O-co-Polacy-zapytaja-PiS.html&template=restricted

-- THE COALITION MUST BE BUILT ANEW BECAUSE PLATFORMA LACKED IMAGINATION - KATARZYNA LUBNAUER IN CONVERSATION WITH PIOTR PACEWICZ ON OKO: “I can answer – I think also on behalf of SLD and PSL, with whom we are holding talks – that we are committed to the broadest possible coalition. We are building it from scratch. Because the Civic Coalition created by me and Schetyna for the local elections fulfilled its role. We showed that cooperation can lead to victory. We gave Poles hope. PiS proved to be mortal. But the events in December mean that PO did not intend to continue it. I have the impression that they lacked imagination. Therefore, the European Coalition must be built anew, on full trust.”

-- WŁODZIMIERZ CZARZASTY ON BIEDROŃ BEING IMPOSSIBLE TO REASON WITH - in conversation with Pacewicz: “There is time until the end of January to make a decision. If Biedroń goes alone – and it’s impossible to reason with him anymore, and besides, he probably doesn't know himself if he's still left-wing – then we risk a massacre between the liberal coalition and PiS. I wouldn't want to end up being pulverized with Biedroń by two large blocs. Certainly, no one on the left will deceive anyone. The decision also rests with the Together party – whether they would agree to run in a coalition with PO. In any case, the European elections are a maneuvering ground before the parliamentary elections, and variants can be tested. Decisions must be made in January, and lists arranged in February.”

https://oko.press/skazani-na-schetyne-kosiniak-kamysz-za-kopacz-za-czarzasty-za-lubnauer-za-nowacka-za/

-- MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON PARUCH'S THESIS ABOUT 10% UNDECIDED VOTERS: “I admit that it is a grim thesis, assuming that the balance of power on the Polish political scene is basically cemented, and any corrections (although sometimes deep resets, as in 2015) are made solely on the level of emotions. I think that this is the keyword for the coming year, including, or perhaps especially, the period just before the election silence, when many voters decide who to cast their vote for. And that is why Law and Justice is adopting a slightly more softened course for the election year (and doubly so). Research shows that this is precisely what is most expected by voters as a whole, as well as by PiS supporters themselves.”

-- FIJOŁEK ON HOW PiS DRAWS CONCLUSIONS FROM PARUCH'S THESIS AND ON STRANGE PERSONNEL NOMINATIONS: “I do not prejudge whether the thesis put forward by Prof. Paruch is one hundred percent true and accurate (especially concerning the percentage of, let's call them, labile voters), but it cannot be ignored. And above all – conclusions must be drawn. Avoiding unnecessary negative emotions, voter irritation, and being branded in the hearts and minds of some of them as a party of strange personnel nominations seems like a very simple, logical conclusion after adopting this strategy. And yet, it still appears to be a difficult task to accomplish, even a mission impossible.”

https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/428173-zakladnicy-10-procent-kaprysnych-i-labilnych-wyborcow

-- GPC ON THE FRONT PAGE ENTHUSIASTICALLY ABOUT SALVINI: FROM ITALY TO POLAND.

-- PAWEŁ WROŃSKI ON PiS'S FLIRTING WITH EUROPEAN RADICALS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF REPORTS ON SALVINI'S ARRIVAL: “Kaczyński's camp is clearly playing for a new configuration in the European Parliament and the European Commission after the May elections. That is why he needs nationalists and disillusioned members of the Kukiz'15 club in Poland. That is why he needs Salvini abroad to support Steve Bannon's movement The Movement. The former political strategist of Donald Trump has set himself the goal of breaking up the Union. Salvini is a shrewd politician who wants to create an alliance of all sorts of populists and 'Trumpists'. And he has a good chance of succeeding due to the weakness of traditional European parties and with the support of Vladimir Putin's trolls, whom he has admired for years. Now he may gain the support of Kaczyński, who feels rejected and scorned by Europe.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24333484,bratanki-prezesa-kaczynskiego.html

-- SYLWIA CZUBKOWSKA IN A GW ARTICLE ON ANDRUSZKIEWICZ QUOTES A PiS POLITICIAN: “- But I won't be surprised if it turns out he gets nothing. Maybe they'll assign him one or two least significant departments just to get rid of him. Or they'll leave him something harmless and unimportant, like managing the political cabinet and contacts with parliament – considers one PiS politician.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,156282,24333100,co-moze-zrobic-nam-minister-andruszkiewicz-nie-za-duzo.html

-- RAFAŁ WOŚ IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY ON THE EUROZONE WITHOUT ILLUSIONS: “So what to do with this unfortunate euro-scramble? Can it be unscrambled somehow? Of course. Firstly, we need to start talking about the common currency in a completely different way than before. In a less hysterical and ideological manner. Without the hysteria that every change in the euro's operational logic means the inevitable end of Europe and some new medieval darkness. It is worth understanding that it is exactly the opposite. It is the stubborn adherence to the euro in its current form that must lead to further erosion of the project based on the beautiful ideas of international solidarity of Schuman and Monnet.”

-- WOŚ ON HOW WE HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO TREATING THE EU AS A UTOPIA: “I know that for many readers all these arguments may initially be too iconoclastic. There is no need to be ashamed. We have been in the Union for a short time, and our entry into it coincided with a time when the sun was shining in the European sky. It is not surprising that we have become accustomed to treating Europe as a fulfilled contemporary utopia. A political project that always moves in the right direction. Only life is not a fairy tale. Neither are 20 years of the euro's history.”

https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/przypalona-eurojajecznica-157094

-- WE USED TO AT LEAST TALK PRIVATELY - KRZYSZTOF LISEK in conversation with Eliza Olczyk in RZ: “In 2005–2007, PiS ruled with a firm hand in the Sejm and crossed boundaries, but at least we sometimes talked normally in private. Today, people who have known each other for years from the Solidarity times have stopped saying hello to each other. In many countries, when a government changes, the successors say to the predecessors: you can nominate a few people from the former government as ambassadors. Can you imagine such a situation in Poland today?”

https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/301039958-Krzysztof-Lisek-Slawomir-Nowak-nie-powinien-tak-mowic-o-Lechu-Kaczynskim.html

-- THAT DAY IN 2005 – The outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, became Marshal of the Sejm, replacing Józef Oleksy, who resigned after being found to be a lustration liar by the court. Adam Daniel Rotfeld became the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/komorowscy-wija-sobie-nowe-gniazdko/ngmgrjx

-- BIRTHDAYS OVER THE WEEKEND: SATURDAY: Michał Lorenc Jr, Maria Bnińska, Marcin Dobski, Krzysztof Luft, Przemysław Gdański, SUNDAY: Elżbieta Radziszewska, Jan Widacki, Grzegorz Szymański, Maciek Żakowski.