-- BRUDZIŃSKI ON THE DEFENDER SPEAKING LIKE THE OPPOSITION, SCHETYNA ON TALKING TO THE OPPOSITION THAT CAN GOVERN AFTER THE ELECTIONS IF HE WERE IN THE GOVERNMENT'S PLACE - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/04/12/

-- ANNA KNYSOK RECALLS THE BUZEK GOVERNMENT - FEW APPRECIATED IT - she tells Judyta Watoła in Gazeta Wyborcza: “Yes, there were quite a few of us, because it was a government that wasn’t afraid of work. It took on the burden of four reforms, not counting mining. We hurried because it was known that the beginnings are always difficult and reforms don’t bring popularity, so the chance for another term is slim. We worked hard. Few appreciated it. Even today, the Buzek government is underestimated. And no one remembers how poor Poland looked back then.

-- KNYSOK RECALLS COALITION DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HEALTHCARE REFORM: “Leszek Balcerowicz, then deputy prime minister, couldn’t accept that we would ‘take’ money from contributions from him. Moreover, other people from the Freedom Union – and the government was after all a coalition, formed by AWS and UW – were against our reform. They had their own idea: they wanted local healthcare. Each local government was to receive money for its clinics and hospital. That would have been something! Our hospital, our patient. We don’t accept patients from other cities because we didn’t get money for them. Can you imagine that!? We went to Balcerowicz many times and discussed both concepts with people from UW. Finally, I said enough is enough, because time is running out. Balcerowicz then said he wanted to see the laws in a week. And it turned out that we had a law, and they only had a concept. Balcerowicz told them then: ‘You have nothing, we are doing insurance!’” http://katowice.wyborcza.pl/katowice/7,35055,24643396,pis-z-minimalna-przewaga-nad-ke-ale-partia-kaczynskiego-ma.html

-- AMERICANS WARN THE POLISH GOVERNMENT AGAIN - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ: “Another crisis in relations with the USA and Israel is looming. IPN prosecutors want to begin exhumations of victims on the grounds of the Treblinka concentration camp on Monday, where Germans murdered Jews. Jewish communities, for religious reasons, always oppose exhumations. Onet is in possession of warning correspondence between the US Department of State and the Polish Embassy in Washington on this matter.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/ekshumacja-w-treblince-amerykanie-ostrzegaja/d4dx2c4

-- ELECTION RESULTS ARE ALMOST BECOMING THE NORM - DAWID WARSZAWSKI ON THE OCCASION OF ISRAELI ELECTIONS: “The problem is that polarized electorates are gradually becoming the norm in the democratic world. From questioning the margins, it’s only a step to questioning the mechanisms that allow 1380 voters to ‘impose their will on 150,000 or 13,000 – on an entire city.’ With consequences known from the past.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24642948,zwyciestwo-o-wlos-to-dzis-swiatowa-norma.html

-- PIS WILL LOSE EVEN IF THEY WIN - Krzysztof Pacewicz on Gazeta Wyborcza poll: “If such results were to occur in the May European Parliament elections, PiS would have 20 MEPs, KE – 19, Biedroń – 8, and Konfederacja and Lewica Razem – 2 each. If similar results were to occur in the autumn parliamentary elections, PiS would have no chance of holding power – the only possible majority coalition would be an alliance between the European Coalition and Wiosna.”

-- PIS GAINED, KE LOST, KONFEDERACJA REPLACED KUKIZ AS A FORCE OF REBELLION - PACEWICZ CONTINUES: “PiS gained 3 percentage points, KE lost 2 points, Wiosna gained 3 points. The biggest loser is Paweł Kukiz – dropping from 7% support to 4%, i.e., below the election threshold. It appears that the Konfederacja of Korwin-Mikke, Liroy, Winnicki and their associates may take the place of a force expressing the rebellion of young, right-wing men: among male voters aged 18-30, Konfederacja wins with a result of 29%, distancing Kukiz’15, which is supported by 11% in this group.”

-- PACEWICZ ON CAUTIOUSLY APPROACHING POLLS FROM FIRMS NOT IN THE OFBOR, WHICH GUARANTEES RESEARCH STANDARDS: “The ‘Wyborcza’ poll does not confirm the hypothesis of a significant drop in support for Wiosna. Where does the difference between this group’s result in the ‘Wyborcza’ poll and other surveys published in the media come from? Perhaps it’s due to the fact that measurements showing a downward trend for Robert Biedroń’s party were prepared mainly by firms not affiliated with the OFBOR organization, which ensures research standards, and thus their quality and methodological correctness are practically impossible to control.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24643396,pis-z-minimalna-przewaga-nad-ke-ale-partia-kaczynskiego-ma.html

-- 51% BELIEVE IT'S A BAD TIME FOR A STRIKE - SE POLL: https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/strajkujcie-ale-nie-w-czasie-egzaminow-aa-DPuK-XUrK-E4AN.html

-- THE GALLOPING MAJOR ON THE STRIKE AS A BONFIRE - BLOW GENTLY: “Therefore, understanding the presidential help for terrified parents, I also understand that paradoxically it might help the strike, especially in terms of image. Supporting a strike is like maintaining a bonfire. You have to blow gently, because a more vigorous gust will immediately extinguish the embers.”

-- THE GALLOPING MAJOR WRITES THAT PIS POLITICIANS ARE WAITING IT OUT, COUNTING ON TEACHERS HAVING NOTHING TO PUT IN THEIR POTS: “But if local government officials really want to help the striking teachers, then now is their chance. Now they can announce budget changes that will help teachers after the strike. Now they can offer legal assistance to teachers who are already being intimidated and harassed. Now local cultural centers can open and be made available to students for free. Now, finally, politicians of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition can demonstrate political ideas that can be implemented after a potential change of government. I would start with a proposal for a statutory obligation to pay striking teachers also during the strike. It is a great shame that millionaire Morawiecki, millionaire MEPs (current and those about to be elected), ministers with multi-thousand-zloty bonuses, or a modest MP building two towers with his family for millions, can wait out people earning 2,000 zlotys net, counting on the fact that after some time they will have nothing to put in their pots.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/felietony/galopujacy-major/strajk-rozdmuchiwac-powoli/

-- BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA DEFENDS TEACHERS SUBJECTED TO GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA - as he writes in Rzeczpospolita: “So, since the strike has started and is ongoing, it is essential for its organizers to understand the importance of words. And they have exceptionally strong and experienced opponents. The ruling party has become specialized in attacking elites. There have already been doctors, judges, and resident doctors. The technology of stripping them of trust is therefore perfectly developed. Moreover, the wheels of the propaganda machines of state media are turning with equal precision. All their power is subjected to one critical message. And it is difficult to speak of any symmetry. Independent media are not concentrating on the strike as much as its opponents. On the one hand, we have a massive attack, and on the other, at best, balanced reporting from commercial stations. Will this be enough to maintain the narrative credibility of the strikers? I have considerable doubts.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190419832-Bez-sprawnej-komunikacji-strajk-nauczycieli-przegra.html

-- PAWEŁ WROŃSKI TO BIERECKI: INSTEAD OF MADAGASCAR, PERHAPS LUXEMBOURG? SKOK MONEY IS ALREADY THERE - he writes in Gazeta Wyborcza: “From a historical perspective, it is also important how Senator Bierecki intends to cleanse the nation. Nazi Germany proposed the most radical methods in this matter. Before World War II, our native fascists wondered where to send the Jews. One of the seriously considered options was Madagascar. I propose, Mr. Senator, that this time not to Madagascar, but to Luxembourg. The money ‘transferred’ from SKOK is already there.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24639764,senator-pis-chce-czyscic-polske-z-niegodnych.html

-- JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ ON BIERECKI’S DANGEROUS WORDS: “When Grzegorz Schetyna said that it was necessary to ‘shake off the PiS locust from the healthy tree of our state,’ he was criticized, and Ryszard Legutko sent a letter to the head of the EPP, calling for condemnation of the practices used by PO during the Nazi era against political opponents. Bierecki should apologize loudly and without any reservations. Jarosław Kaczyński should also apologize for Bierecki’s statement, to make it clear that PiS does not accept statements with racist and fascist undertones. Unless the ruling party is fighting for an extreme right-wing, brown electorate, but that would exclude PiS from the family of democratic, right, and just parties.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/190419839-Niebezpieczne-slowa-senatora-PiS.html

-- IN THE CHANCELLERY OF THE PRIME MINISTER, MEN EARN MORE - Rzeczpospolita’s top story: “In the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, men earn more than women and more often hold managerial positions – according to civil service data obtained by ‘Rzeczpospolita.’ The same is true for institutions subordinate to the prime minister: the Center for Government Administration Services, UOKiK, and the Office of the Patient Ombudsman. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister employs 268 men and 463 women. Female civil servants earn an average of almost 8.5 thousand PLN gross, while men earn over 10 thousand PLN gross. Interestingly, almost twice as many men (53 people) hold managerial positions. For women, only 29 female civil servants hold management positions.” https://www.rp.pl/Rzad-PiS/190419778-Dyskryminacja-w-rzadzie-PiS-Premier-oszczedza-na-urzedniczkach.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Jarosław Kalinowski, Joanna Mucha, Iwona Sulik, Tomasz Bielecki, Jerzy Slezak, Stanisław Szwed, Wojciech Tochman, Agata Dambska.