-- THE PRIME MINISTER DISCUSSED HOW HE IS ASKED ABROAD ABOUT THE RULING PARTY'S SOCIAL PROGRAMS, KACZYŃSKI QUESTIONS WHAT THE CIVIC PLATFORM DID FOR POLAND IN THE EPP, SCHETYNA PROMISES TO MAINTAIN 500+, BIEDROŃ PRESENTS HIS CANDIDATES - POLITICAL SATURDAY ON 300POLITYKA: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/03/23/

-- PIOTR ZAREMBA LAMBASTS THE QUALIFICATIONS OF KOPACZ AND SZYDŁO FOR GOING TO BRUSSELS - writes in RZ: “One could assume that such qualifications also apply by default to former prime ministers. But are Ewa Kopacz or Leszek Miller, placed behind her on the Greater Poland list, candidates for European players? One can doubt it. The same applies to Beata Szydło on the other side, who attends language courses.”

-- ZAREMBA ON THE GROUP OF IDLE MEPs: “And what do most of the others do for five years? My interlocutor replies: – They engage in domestic politics, using the prestige of their European mandate, or they spend time in Brussels and Strasbourg doing nothing, saving money, and if they're lucky, doing PR. And to be clear, such people exist in every national delegation in the European Parliament. Only in ours, the Polish one, there are too many of them, and perhaps more in every term.”

-- IT'S PROBABLY NOT YET TIME FOR THE CURRENT PRIME MINISTER'S OWN TEAM - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “Commentators have multiplied other speculations, according to which sometimes such a trip is not a reward, but a form of exile. It has been suggested, for example, that the departures of some ministers would allow Morawiecki to build a more personal cabinet. However, this would probably be the case if Zbigniew Ziobro were to be sent to Strasbourg and Brussels. In addition, party leader Jarosław Kaczyński said on RMF radio that the candidacies of new ministers are starting to crystallize in his mind. It's probably not yet time for the current prime minister's own team.”

-- ZAREMBA ON SARYUSZ-WOLSKI: “But even he has grasped the essence of PiS party politics. Hence his loud hooting on Twitter about the 'Targowica' he abandoned in time. Such statements put him in an ambiguous light. But they have one advantage: they are pleasing in Nowogrodzka.” http://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1399561-Parlament-europolski.html

-- MAJA OSTASZEWSKA IN GW - KEEP AWAY FROM OUR CHILDREN: “Party leader Kaczyński said: ‘Keep away from our children’. So I say to him: Yes, keep away from my children! They are sensitive, intelligent, open people. I do not agree to instilling fears and prejudices in them. Keep away from children in general! Unfortunately, many people do not understand this, because PiS is simply buying society.”

-- OSTASZEWSKA ON RETURNING THE BABY BONUS: “Social support programs are right and very necessary. But let's see how much hypocrisy there is in this. Such programs should go to those most in need. Meanwhile, there is no money for the disabled, no money for single mothers, but the 500+ benefit or baby bonuses are also received by wealthy businessmen. I took the baby bonus and immediately donated it to charity.”

-- OSTASZEWSKA STATES THAT PIS IS NOT INTERESTED IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS: “The same applies to violence. PiS is not really interested in social problems. It completely ignores the issue of violence. Annually, 800,000 of us experience violence, 150 to 300 lose their lives as a result of beatings or take their own lives. Meanwhile, PiS cuts funding to organizations combating violence and supporting victims, such as Niebieska Linia (Blue Line) and the Women's Rights Center.” http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/7,163229,24574554,maja-ostaszewska-moze-to-cale-zlo-ktore-nam-pis-zafundowal.html

-- DON'T BACK DOWN FROM KACZYŃSKI - JAKUB MAJMUREK in GW: “The removal of PiS from power depends not only on whether the democratic camp (Civic Coalition, Spring) gains an advantage over PiS, Kukiz’15, and Korwin-Mikke. But also on how strong the progressive wing of the Civic Coalition will be and how strong a partner Spring will be to the Coalition. The greater the strength of progressives in the anti-PiS coalition, the less it will depend on the whims and blackmail of candidates like the next Jacek Saryusz-Wolskis.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24576600,nie-cofac-sie-przed-kaczynskim-opozycja-musi-twardo-bronic.html

-- THE OPPOSITION CAN FOLLOW THE PATH OF ADAMOWICZ OR GIERTYCH - AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK: “Jarosław Kaczyński has given the opposition a wonderful gift: on the eve of the European campaign, he has given it the opportunity to speak about values, and to do so with emotion. The question of whether the opposition will be able to seize this opportunity remains open. Recent days show that the European Coalition can go down two paths: Paweł Adamowicz's or Roman Giertych's. Of the two basic tools of political mobilization, which are fear and hope, PiS has chosen the former. The opposition can and should choose the latter.”

-- IT WILL BE DIFFERENT WITH LGBT PEOPLE THAN WITH REFUGEES - writes SZCZĘŚNIAK: “Ultimately, they have surrendered society to the falsifiers of reality. In just four months – from May to June 2015 – the percentage of people who believed that Poland should not accept refugees doubled (from 21 to 40 percent). The second reason for the success of the anti-refugee campaign is that it concerned people who were absent. One could say almost anything about refugees because they were practically non-existent in Poland. Few were willing to stand up for an abstraction. It is completely different with LGBT+ individuals. They are within reach. They are family members, neighbors, friends from school or work. Today, almost every Pole knows a gay man or lesbian – from life or from television. They also know Robert Biedroń, who, before founding his party, gathered significant support and popularity and gained the status of 'our gay man'. https://www.tvn24.pl/magazyn-tvn24/wielki-moralizator-kaczynski-straszy-gejem-bo-sam-ma-klopoty,204,3554

-- AGATA KOWALSKA ON SURRENDERING TO HOMOPHOBIA - writes in DGP: “Will society harm a child of a same-sex couple by not tolerating their parents? There is a possibility. But why should the solution be a ban on adoption by gay men or lesbians, rather than criminalizing homophobic hate speech and homophobic violence, and – mind you – equality education in schools?” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/594087,deklaracja-lgbt-rodzina-para-jednoplciowa-adopcja-geje.html

-- SYLWIA SPUREK IN A CONVERSATION WITH PIOTR WITWICKI IN RZ ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIP: “I am a vegan for ethical reasons. It's part of my worldview. It would be difficult for me to be with someone who is not against the exploitation of animals. The same applies to feminism. It would be difficult for me to be with someone who doesn't believe that women and men are equal and should earn the same for the same positions.”

-- SPUREK ON THE BOOK "PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT. CONVERSATIONS ABOUT POLAND" WRITTEN WITH ANASZEWICZ: “We have been together for over 18 years and we share values both in our private and public lives. It is not unnatural for me that we work together. We are involved in politics, and in April our book 'Partnership Agreement. Conversations about Poland' will be published. This is our style.”

-- WE WON'T GET MARRIED BECAUSE OUR FRIENDS CAN'T FORMALIZE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS - SPUREK CONTINUES: “This decision was natural for us. In a situation where our friends cannot formalize their relationships because they are gay or lesbian, it is unfair that we have this possibility. Our choice is a manifesto of solidarity.”

-- SO THAT NO ONE IS EXCLUDED OR DISCRIMINATED AGAINST - SPUREK SPEAKS OF HER DREAM: “Yes, so that everyone can fulfill their dreams and no one is excluded and discriminated against. Certain groups are key for me: the elderly, people with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals, and women, especially women living in rural areas. I know I'm saying this somewhat loftily, but these are the most important things for me. For 20 years, I have observed a state that does not function effectively. The system is inefficient, heartless, and blind to the rights of the weakest. It often harms people, and I am trying to change that. I hope that within the party, and then in parliament, I will be able to do even more.” https://www.rp.pl/Rozmowy-Witwickiego/303229963-Sylwia-Spurek-Wole-byc-nazwana-partnerka-niz-zona.html&template=restricted

-- KRZYSZTOF ŚMISZEK IN GW ON HOW PIS POLITICIANS WILL HAVE TO CONDUCT HATEFUL POLITICS WHILE LOOKING IN THE FACES OF WIOSNA POLITICIANS: “PiS politicians will meet with us, they will have to talk to us, shake our hands, drink coffee and tea with us. They will have to sit in the same studio, at the same table, and conduct their hateful politics while looking us in the face.”

-- ŚMISZEK ON THE DECISION NOT TO GET MARRIED ABROAD BEING POLITICAL: “Our decision not to get married abroad is very political. Because my partner and I are not second-class citizens. So if we get married, we will get married in Poland.” http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/7,53668,24573897,krzysztof-smiszek-partner-roberta-biedronia-slub-wezmiemy-w.html

-- CAN ONE BE PRINCIPLED IN SOME MATTERS AND TURN A BLIND EYE TO OTHERS? - PIOTR ZAREMBA ON THE CHURCH AND CATHOLICS: “I could point out that liberal Catholics are so fixated on fighting the sins of their own institution that they refuse solidarity to their bishops in moments when they defend the principles of the Church's moral teaching. On the issue of legal demands from the LGBT community or the vision of 'educating' children too early, the bishops are simply consistent – even if today it is a premature dispute, fueled by the election campaign, tomorrow or the day after, it will sweep through Poland. But can one be principled in some matters and turn a blind eye to others? This question can be dedicated to the authors of campaigns like 'Wounded in the Church'. But it can also be directed to the not-so-empathetic leaders of the Polish Church.” https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-kosciol-potrzebuje-wiekszej-empatii/ar/13986695

-- A FRAGMENT OF A CONVERSATION BETWEEN ROBERT MAZUREK AND TOMASZ SEKIELSKI: “I decided to do this form of exhibitionism for another reason too, because of the haters. No matter what I did, I received a lot of comments like: 'You overfed pig, you fat sow, fat has flooded your brain.' I decided to put a stop to it, and it worked.

-- Have the haters quieted down?

-- After I publicly stated the bad situation I was in, how much I had let myself go – they quieted down. I took the weapon out of their hands, because what's the pleasure in hating Sekielski when Sekielski himself admits he's overweight and showed how much he weighs?” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/594069,tomasz-sekielski-odchudzanie-hejt-wywiad-mazurek.html

-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY TO MARIUSZ CHŁOPIK!

-- BIRTHDAYS ON SATURDAY: Józef Zych, Piotr Zaremba, Hanna Zdanowska, Agata Młynarska, Jarosław Kulczycki, Maciej Białecki, SUNDAY: Władysław Baka, Jakub Bojan, Zbigniew Konwiński, Wojciech Przybylski, Maciej Giertych, Barbara Tuge-Erecińska, Filip Łobodziński, Marek Wójcik.