-- YES, WE CONSIDER IT MOST NECESSARY – DARIUSZ ROSATI ON MEPs SUPPORTING THE SO-CALLED ACTA 2 DIRECTIVE – he tells SE.

-- WE CONSIDER THE DIRECTIVE ITSELF NECESSARY, BUT WE WILL MOST LIKELY VOTE AGAINST ARTICLE 17, WHILE SUPPORTING THE DIRECTIVE ITSELF – says Rosati.

-- SZYDŁO TO CHAIR GOVERNMENT DELEGATION WITH TEACHERS; LUBNAUER ON DISSATISFACTION WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION LISTS – 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/03/25/

-- AGNIESZKA KUBLIK WRITES ABOUT HOW PAD LOST THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OVER TVP: “Conflict immediately broke out in the new board, its members failing to even divide competencies among themselves. Paczuska wanted to take control of information and commentary away from Kurski, and together with Pałka they could outvote the TVP president. However, using legal loopholes, he prevented a vote on this matter, and on March 21st, the supervisory board of public television suspended Pałka. They had a reason: Pałka is in a legal dispute with the company, as Kurski dismissed him disciplinarily in the summer of 2018 for allowing the premiere of the song ‘Siła kobiet’ by the band Girls on Fire, which was the unofficial anthem of the ‘black protests,’ in Opole. Pałka is demanding compensation – unofficially, it is said he wanted PLN 60,000.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24581157,bitwa-kaczynskiego-z-duda-o-wplywy-w-tvp-i-los-jacka-kurskiego.html

-- DGP ON THE FRONT PAGE REPORTS THAT ZALEWSKA’S DEPARTURE IS POSSIBLE AND THAT THE PRIME MINISTER MAY TAKE OVER THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE EVEN BEFORE THE ELECTIONS – as reported by Grzegorz Osiecki and Bartek Godusławski: “Anna Zalewska’s resignation would help de-escalate the dispute with teachers. If the Minister of Finance leaves, the Prime Minister Morawiecki might head the ministry. According to DGP’s information, a serious discussion is underway within PiS regarding potential personnel changes in the Council of Ministers – these could occur in April or early May. One of the main goals of these changes would be to de-escalate the dispute with teachers. PiS acted similarly a year ago – then the replacement of the Minister of Health was intended to calm the turbulent moods of doctors and nurses. Nevertheless, one of our interlocutors suggested that if the minister decided to leave the ministry, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki himself would head it. At least until the elections. The head of government would personally ensure that everything he announced by the PiS chairman fits into next year’s expenditure plan.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/594227,eybory-europejskie-pis-rekonstrukcja-rzadu.html

-- WOJCIECH HERMELIŃSKI ON THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE JUDICIARY (KRS) BEING APPOINTED ILLEGALLY – tells Tomasz Żółciak in DGP: “No, because it was not elected in accordance with the Constitution. And it clearly states that the Sejm appoints only four MPs to its composition. The Ministry of Justice insists that the constitution does not explicitly prohibit electing other individuals. However, Article 7 of the basic law states that public bodies act based on legal regulations and within the limits of the law, and previous rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal indicated that no body can usurp powers that are not granted to it by law. It is commonly believed that what is not forbidden is permitted. But in public law, it is the opposite, i.e., what is not permitted is forbidden. Therefore, in my opinion, the Sejm is usurping its powers to fill the KRS composition.”

-- HERMELIŃSKI USES A DIFFERENT FORMULATION THAN ‘DUBLER’: “I try not to use the term ‘dubler,’ as it is rather inelegant. I prefer the formulations used in the Constitutional Tribunal’s rulings from before 2016, namely ‘a person appointed to an already occupied place.’ That is the reality, after all.”

-- JUSTICES OF THE PEACE CONTRARY TO THE CONSTITUTION – HERMELIŃSKI CONTINUES: “The idea of relieving courts of a multitude of minor offenses or low-value civil claims is not foolish. However, it seems no one here is thinking about the constitution. According to it, everyone has the right to an independent and impartial court. When we talk about a court, there must be judges appointed by the president and meeting the requirements of Article 45(1) of the constitution, especially independence. Justices of the peace would not necessarily have to have a legal education.”

-- APPOINTMENT OF THE NATIONAL ELECTION COMMISSION (PKW) LIKE IN THE PRL ERA – HERMELIŃSKI CONTINUES: “I see this as a return of the PKW to the PRL era, because then it was appointed by the Marshal of the Sejm and consisted of representatives of political parties. This time, they will not be party members, but in a sense, individuals associated with them, either mentally or in some other way.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/594230,pkw-krs-wybory-sprawozdania-finansowe.html

-- RZ NEWSPAPER WRITES THAT THE GOVERNMENT MAY RESORT TO HIGHER ZUS CONTRIBUTIONS BECAUSE TAX ENHANCEMENTS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR THE ‘FIVE PLUS’ PROGRAMME: “There is no possibility of financing new promises from tax enhancements. Will the government reach for the frozen idea of higher ZUS contributions?” https://www.rp.pl/Gospodarka/303249944-Skad-pieniadze-na-piatke-PiS.html

-- WITOLD GADOMSKI ON WHAT PMM’S WORDS ABOUT THE DEFICIT MEAN: “If we have a 3% deficit during a good economic climate and high growth, then during an economic slowdown, it will definitely exceed 3% of GDP and Poland will again be subjected to the EU’s excessive deficit procedure, which imposes various restrictions on countries. PiS, which is so sensitive about Poland’s sovereignty, is following the path of Greece, which, as a result of excessive debt, effectively lost its sovereignty for several years and had to obey the orders of international institutions that saved it from bankruptcy.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,155290,24579551,morawiecki-przestaje-mamic-obietnice-wyborcze-zadluza-polske.html

-- THE OPPOSITION AND THE RULING PARTY CLASH OVER WHO BOMBED THE STATE'S FINANCES; THE MIDDLE CLASS WILL PAY – KRZYSZTOF A. KOWALCZYK in RZ: “I remind you that extending the ‘500+’ program to the first child is a demand of PO. And it is in this context that I ask you not to lump PO in with PiS in terms of handouts – a Platform MP stated last week, joining the discussion of economists concerned about the explosion of expenditures. They likely became even more concerned, as the opposition is now arguing with the ruling party over who first planted the bomb under the state’s finances.” https://www.rp.pl/Blogi/303249956-Zaplaci-klasa-srednia.html

-- SCHETYNA IS TRYING TO REPEAT WHAT HAPPENED IN 2007 – MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “Grzegorz Schetyna’s speech, inaugurating the European Coalition’s election campaign, confirmed that the PO leader is trying to repeat, almost to the dot and comma, Donald Tusk’s path from 2005-2007. (...) Schetyna is thus playing his role, following the adopted course, but he has not met the goals that could open his way to power. Of course, everything is possible, but while Tusk in the previous round of this battle for Poland quite effectively, albeit unscrupulously, demolished the then PiS, and only had to put the finishing touches, the current PO leader simply has to win in a normal electoral fight. And that is a significantly more difficult challenge.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/439353-schetyna-nie-osiagnal-celow-ktore-byly-kluczem-do-wladzy

-- FOR FRIGHTENING WITH PIS TO WORK, POWER WOULD HAVE TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ECONOMIC CRISIS, NOT BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT IS INSECURE, GREEDY, AND RIDICULOUS – TOMASZ SAWCZUK in KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Furthermore, for frightening with PiS to be effective, it would have to work – and it would work, for example, if an economic crisis occurred after the introduction of the Family 500+ program. But nothing like that happened. Of course, there have been a number of scandalous abuses of power. But if PiS’s governance irritates people, it is more often because it can be insecure, greedy, and ridiculous, rather than because it appears frightening. Excessive frightening can also become ridiculous.”

-- WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH DISTINGUISHING SOCIAL ROLES – SAWCZUK WRITES: WHEN AN ANALYST ANALYZES THAT A GOVERNMENT MOVE WILL BE WELL RECEIVED BY VOTERS, THEY WILL BE ACCUSED OF SUPPORTING PIS: “It seems that in Poland, we have a problem with appropriately distinguishing between various social roles. When a journalist asks a politician a ‘difficult question,’ many people (often including the politician) think that they are being attacked, rather than doing their job. When an analyst predicts that a certain move by the ruling party will be well received by voters, they will immediately be told by critics of the government that they support PiS.”

-- FRIGHTENING WITH PIS WORKED AS TUSK’S WEAPON, BUT NOW IT IS A STATE OF IMAGINATION RATHER THAN REALITY – SAWCZUK’S CONCLUSION: “Frightening with PiS once worked and was Donald Tusk’s weapon. Then the conditions changed and it stopped working – which I describe extensively in ‘Nowy liberalizm’ [New Liberalism]. Time passes, and perhaps something will happen that will change the situation again. But there is no point in deluding ourselves that frightening with PiS will bring down the government regardless of the social context – clinging to such a conviction would suggest that we prefer to live in an imagined world rather than a real one.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/03/25/sawczuk-straszenie-pis/

-- RENATA GROCHAL DESCRIBES IN NEWSWEEK THAT SZYDŁO WANTS TO BREAK BUZEK’S RECORD IN THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: “Party colleagues are slightly surprised, because in the government Szydło works in alliance with Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his deputy Patryk Jaki. However, Szydło is now convincing Kaczyński that Jaki has a large negative electorate, which could harm the United Right’s result. The chairman promises to talk to Ziobro about Jaki’s candidacy. – He said that for form’s sake. He knew that Szydło was not really concerned about Jaki’s negative electorate, but simply feared that the young politician would take votes away from her. And she is going for a record and wants to surpass Buzek – a close associate of Kaczyński tells me. Buzek, as a former prime minister, running for the European Parliament on the PO list, twice achieved the best result in the country. In 2004, he received over 170,000 votes, and in 2009 – over 390,000.” https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/powrot-beaty-szydlo-przed-eurowyborami-co-chce-udowodnic-prezesowi-pis/6brxx9z

-- WHEN THEY HAVE A FEW PERCENT, THEY SEEK TOLERANCE; WHEN THEY HAVE A CHANCE FOR POWER, THEY ISSUE THREATS AND INTIMIDATE – JACEK KARNOWSKI: “The new left, which rules not only with Biedroń but also within the effectively colonized European Coalition, is like political Islam; when it has a few percent, it claims to only seek tolerance. When it has a chance for power or exercises power, it issues threats, penalizes, condemns, intimidates. It moves without hesitation towards actual totalitarianism, ignoring even the warnings of 20th-century leftist intellectuals. For it is about fanatics like them that one of the greatest men of the last century, George Orwell, wrote. They are today’s Big Brother, who wants to control every human activity. Attributing such intentions or designs to, for example, the Church is a mere slander; today the Church defends fundamental freedoms, defends common sense. Not only in Poland, but all over the world.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/439444-wybory-zdecyduja-czy-za-4-lata-odbeda-sie-normalne-wybory

-- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI POSES THE THESIS THAT PIS IS PRO-RUSSIAN: “I am not claiming that PiS is following Putin’s orders. The convergence of goals may have an ideological or identity-based foundation – in the aversion to diversity, the rule of law, the West, and modernization, and especially to cultural changes. Yet, it is hard not to be surprised that PiS speaks so loudly about reparations from Germany, but remains silent about reparations from Russia. Similarly, it is hard not to be surprised by PiS’s major campaign regarding the Nord Stream gas pipeline leading to Germany, while quietly accepting the South Stream leading through Hungary to Austria, which Orbán wants, and through Greece to Italy, which Salvini wants.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24581548,partia-rosyjska-w-polsce-putin-i-samodzierzawie.html

-- MORAWIECKI MULTIPLIES POLES WHO SAVED JEWS – ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI in OKO: “Based on a detailed analysis of the circumstances in which they died, I formulated a research hypothesis that the majority – although I cannot say at this stage of research whether it was 60 or 90 percent – lost their lives at the hands of Poles or with their complicity” – said Prof. Grabowski. The findings of historians may be unpleasant for PiS politicians and many of their voters. However, they cannot be silenced or erased from libraries.” https://oko.press/miliony-ratowaly-morawiecki-cudownie-rozmnaza-polakow-ratujacych-zydow/

-- BIRTHDAYS: Wiesław Myśliwski, Izabella Cywińska, Jacek Rybicki, Michał Sutowski, Henry James Foy, Marek Czyż, Jerzy Materna, Aleksander Sopliński, Wojciech Ziemniak, Grzegorz Drobiszewski.