-- HETMAN ON THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO ONE IN PSL WHO WANTS A COALITION WITH PIS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/06/03/ -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ONLINE ON KURSKI'S WAR WITH MORAWIECKI: “The flagship news programs of public television are marginalizing the prime minister. In the pre-European Parliament election campaign, he was shown drastically less often than before the local government elections. According to Onet's information, this is a deliberate decision by TVP president Jacek Kurski. Kurski introduced an unofficial embargo on Morawiecki. This is the so-called nine-second doctrine – in total, the prime minister should not be shown for more than 9 seconds per day in ‘Wiadomości’. In practice – for technical reasons – the prime minister was shown slightly more on average (11-12 s). Morawiecki was even cut out at the end of the campaign when he participated in a flood relief effort.” -- STANKIEWICZ ON KURSKI'S SOCIO-ENGINEERING: “Kurski began to promote this PiS program on TVP as the ‘Kaczyński's Five,’ which the president initially corrected, saying it was the government's idea, not his. — Morawiecki tried to present this package as the ‘new PiS Five’ because he wanted to be the face of this project. Then we came up with ‘Jarek's’ and played it non-stop on air and in banners. It caught on, and Morawiecki lost — rejoices the TVP manager responsible for news.” -- KURSKI DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAINST ATTEMPTS TO GET RID OF HIM - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “Kurski is not a suicidal person; he is attacking Morawiecki for specific reasons. Firstly, the prime minister has tried to get him fired several times, but Kaczyński never agreed. The TVP president also knows that there is a large group of important politicians in the ruling camp who are unfavorable towards Morawiecki. Among them are Zbigniew Ziobro, Beata Szydło, and a significant portion of the members of the so-called Order of the Centre Agreement, i.e., Kaczyński's oldest comrades from his first party. However, behind Morawiecki stand, for example, Deputy Prime Ministers Jarosław Gowin and Piotr Gliński, as well as the influential circles of ‘Gazeta Polska’.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/jacek-kurski-probuje-zatopic-mateusza-morawieckiego/ts6pd5f -- STACHOWIAK-RÓŻECKA, LICHOCKA, OR CZERWIŃSKA – AGATA KONDZIŃSKA ON CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON – WRITES IN GW: “– Czerwińska is lobbying hard, Stachowiak has a strong mentor as she is a politician from the stable of PiS Vice-President Adam Lipiński, and Lichocka has journalistic experience – a politician from the ruling camp tells us. And he assesses which position is politically more important: – Of course, the party spokesperson, because that is a person who has access to the president's ear, is close to him, meaning they know everything, while the government spokesperson is already in a further galaxy.” -- KONDZIŃSKA ON THE ZIOBRISTS' SITUATION: “According to the coalition agreement, the Minister of Justice is guaranteed two ministerial positions; if the position after Kempę is eliminated, Ziobro may demand an additional ministry. – I heard that the Ziobrists are going after state-owned companies and want KGHM for themselves. Our interlocutors emphasize that Kaczyński does not want to strengthen Ziobro and that appointing a nominee of the Minister of Justice to a position in the Prime Minister's Chancellery will be politically more advantageous for PiS.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24855714,pis-dopina-zmiany-w-rzadzie-ziobrysci-maja-chrapke-na-kghm.html -- GRZEGORZ OSIECKI IN DGP WRITES THAT THE PRESIDENT PROPOSED A CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE AFTER JAKIM. -- THE PEASANTS' BLUFF – LEAD ARTICLE IN GW (Krystyna Naszkowska, Paweł Wroński): “PSL loudly declares that it will go into the parliamentary elections at the head of a bloc called Koalicja Polska (Polish Coalition). However, it is quietly giving its partners time to offer it better terms. Final arrangements are to be made by the end of June.” -- THIS IS THE PEASANTS' PRESSURE ON PARTNERS – GW CONTINUES: “According to behind-the-scenes leaks, the Peasants will now be sounding out whether they can count on the accession of politicians from the right wing of PO who have been marginalized or even expelled from their party – e.g., Marek Biernacki, Jacek Kozłowski, Bogdan Zdrojewski, Stefan Niesiołowski, or Michał Kamiński. Most importantly, however, the announcement of forming a separate bloc is intended as a means of pressure on its partners. PSL wants to force Civic Platform to withdraw from overly bold declarations on moral issues. And most importantly – it wants to secure good places on the election lists for its people in the autumn. – We expect Schetyna to start talking seriously with them now – one of the PSL leaders told us.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24855283,psl-wychodzi-z-koalicji-to-raczej-blef.html -- THE PEASANTS WANT TO FOLLOW THEIR VOTERS, THE PROBLEM IS THAT MOST OF THEM ARE ALREADY WITH PIS – PAWEŁ WROŃSKI in GW: “The rather peculiar formula for announcing the start of Koalicja Polska in the elections (in fact, the decision will be made in a month) is an attempt to buy time, to gain a moment to cool down and to tally gains and losses. PSL wants to follow its voters, the problem is that some of their voters, as well as activists, are already in Jarosław Kaczyński's party.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24854129,psl-na-rozdrozu-ludowcy-chca-pojsc-za-swoimi-wyborcami-problem.html -- ABSOLUTE LACK OF IDEAS FOR ANYTHING – ON THE OPPOSITION ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI ON FB: “I am currently listening to a crazy conversation between Grzegorz Sroczyński with the mayor of Nowa Sól, Tyszkiewicz, and Prof. Małgorzata Omilanowska on TOK FM. Tyszkiewicz is shouting at Sroczyński, threatening him with a lawsuit, getting worked up, and confusing private radio with public. (He is, of course, referring to his famous post in which he claimed that PiS voters – in a nutshell – were bought.) I think Tyszkiewicz's state of mind perfectly illustrates the mood of the so-called liberal opposition. ‘All is lost, nothing will reach ‘those people’ [PiS voters], they will soon have a constitutional majority, those who vote for PiS don't understand anything, if they win, I will emigrate.’ That's how Tyszkiewicz is: conviction of defeat, insulting the opponent's voters (he claims at the same time that he doesn't insult them, but they were deceived, so they are stupid), an absolute lack of ideas for anything. Complete misunderstanding of reasons for defeat other than media dominance and PiS manipulation. All of this together makes for an excellent prognosis for autumn.” -- MASTERS OF SELF-ABSORPTION – MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI in RZ ON THE OPPOSITION: “Opposition politicians have shown that they are consistent. By publicly airing their dirty laundry within the Coalition all week, they have proven that when it comes to self-absorption, they have no equals. This was reflected in the election results – Poles seem to believe that PiS is more credible as a party that deals with ordinary citizens, while the opposition is a force that deals with itself. For now, this is a recipe for PiS to win again in the autumn.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/306029959-Szuldrzynski-Mistrzowie-zajmowania-sie-soba.html -- TUSK ALSO HAS THE STAMP OF A LOSER ON HIS FOREHEAD NOW – LUDWIK DORN in RZ: “The European Coalition, with Tusk's clear support, lost by seven percentage points, so he also has the stamp of a loser on his forehead. This does not serve politicians well.” -- DORN IN RZ TELLS AN ANECDOTE ABOUT THE LACK OF A FINANCE MINISTER: “I was once told that when Prime Minister Leszek Miller was touring Central Europe, seeking allies for Poland during the veto of the constitutional treaty, he spoke, among others, with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány of the Hungarian Socialist Party. They talked about the treaty, but also about how they governed. Apparently, when Miller left the meeting, he asked our ambassador: ‘Mr. Ambassador, but do they even have a finance minister?’ This anecdote came to mind because Minister Czerwińska was and still is the Minister of Finance. When she is not there, there will be no Minister of Finance.” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/306029967-Ludwik-Dorn-Wyprodukuja-kolejne-porcje-kielbasy.html -- ALEKSANDER HALL ON THE CAUSES OF THE OPPOSITION'S DEFEAT – OPPONENTS OF MORAL REVOLUTION MOBILIZED: “I believe that the crucial factor was the fact that in the local government elections, the rivals of PiS candidates were pragmatic, experienced local government officials belonging to the opposition or independents. Those elections were not about evaluating the Church, ideology, and Poland's civilizational face. Unfortunately, the European Parliament elections, to some extent, became such elections. Largely at the opposition's request. Thus, voters mobilized who felt it was necessary to defend the Church. Especially in the countryside and in southeastern Poland. Voters critically inclined towards the PiS government, but fearing a moral revolution and the confinement of the Church to a niche where it would be supervised by the state, might have experienced serious doubts.” https://www.rp.pl/Publicystyka/306029951-Hall-Czemu-Koalicja-przegrala.html -- IT'S NOT THAT THE OPPOSITION MUST LOSE IN THE FALL – JACEK ŻAKOWSKI in GW: “All this does not mean that the opposition cannot win the autumn elections. PiS still has strong arguments and will use them (e.g., it will pay 500+ for every first child in the fall), but it also continues to provide new arguments for its opponents. If the opposition pulls itself together perfectly and somehow mobilizes its supporters more effectively, an autumn draw might point to it. It's worth continuing to try. But one must try differently – focusing not on configurations, but on the pains that people feel, not on those they should expect. If the opposition identifies them and provides an answer – it may win in the autumn. If not – it will have to wait for the next chance.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24855324,opozycja-nie-musi-przegrac-ale-musi-starac-sie-inaczej.html -- JĘDRZEJ BIELECKI ON THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S KEY ROLE IN NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA – writes in RZ: “Sources in Warsaw strongly emphasize that normalization of relations with Moscow is out of the question as long as Russians do not begin to observe the basic principles of international law, especially regarding the change of borders in Ukraine. However, according to our country, several arguments favor keeping Russia in the Council of Europe, one of the very few organizations encompassing the entire continent. One of them is maintaining the possibility for Russian citizens to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which was particularly highlighted by the head of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas. (...) The meeting between Jacek Czaputowicz and Sergey Lavrov in Helsinki, however, is a signal that the Council of Europe plays a key role in bringing the two countries closer.” https://www.rp.pl/Dyplomacja/306029974-Stosunki-Polski-z-Rosja-Wychodzenie-z-zakletego-kregu.html -- TOMASZ SAWCZUK in KULTURA LIBERALNA ON SCHETYNA'S BOOK – WHAT DOES HE ACTUALLY WANT: “So what is missing from this book? We do not learn from it what Schetyna actually thinks about contemporary Poland, what he actually wants. Reading his account, one can sometimes get the impression that in politics, only who is with whom and who is who matters – that it is not so much its fundamental layer, but the only one. Even to the question about the reasons for Civic Platform's defeat in 2015, Schetyna replies that it was about 'hard politics' and lists three problems: 'Bronisław Komorowski's defeat, the establishment of Nowoczesna, and the left not entering parliament.' -- WE WON'T FIND OUT WHAT SCHETYNA THINKS ABOUT SOCIAL PROBLEMS – SAWCZUK CONTINUES: “Apart from occasional references to Thatcher and Reagan, which give some idea of the political imagination of the PO leader, the book does not tell us what from the social reality reaches Schetyna at all and what he thinks about contemporary social problems. Civic Platform has rightly abandoned the style of a dogmatically free-market business party, but it has not developed a new perspective that organizes thinking about politics, which would go beyond the context of tug-of-war between parties. It still adheres to the narrowly understood pragmatism of a businessman who wants to 'finalize a project' rather than take a step towards more democratic pragmatism, on the basis of which the idea of 'finalizing projects' is supplemented by the context of building relationships between people. I wrote more extensively about these matters in 'New Liberalism,' so now, at the cost of simplifications, let's say: more direct campaigning.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/06/03/historia-pokolenia-grzegorz-schetyna-recenzja-sawczuk/ -- FOR SUCH A LEFT WING, WE MAY HAVE TO SAY THANK YOU – A REVIEW OF RAFAŁ WOŚ'S BOOK – AS MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI WRITES IN KRYTYKA: “So, the language of class contempt ('loafers,' 'pathos') is unfair and harmful, and the cretin who wrote the article about the beneficiaries of 500+ fouling up the beaches in Władysławowo should be fired immediately. But the 'Janusz and Grażyna' mentioned by Woś are simply incredibly diverse. Some go to KOD, others to the Independence Marches (there were some families with children there), they are ridiculed online for wearing socks with sandals, but they themselves insult 'pathos from 500+' and some send Tusk to prison. Football hooligans (often at the income level of the lower middle class) do not expect special care from the left, nor do rappers from housing estates whose life motto is often 'fuck pigs, fuck poverty.' 'Parking attendants, children from Łódź courtyards and residents of former state farms' – that's another matter. But why their problems should contradict the agenda of human rights and freedoms, I cannot understand.” -- WE DON'T HAVE TO ABANDON THE TOPIC OF ABORTION TO NOT OFFEND AUNTIE – SUTOWSKI CONTINUES: “Woś likes to sharpen theses, so I'll try too: for things to get better in Poland, you really don't have to abandon the topic of abortion and the role of the Church in public life, so as not to offend auntie; you don't have to leave gays and emo teenagers with maturity problems to the mercy of neighborhood football hooligans; you don't have to give up the value of scientific truth for the peace of mind of Jerzy Zięba's followers, nor stop prosecuting domestic violence out of respect for centuries-old tradition. Because it’s fuckin’ 2019 (and the Polish people know basic English).” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kultura/czytaj-dalej/za-taka-lewice-to-moze-panu-podziekujemy-recenzja/ -- DGP ON SECURING POLICE COMMUNICATIONS – BY THE WAY, WE LEARN ABOUT THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES SECURITY OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S PRESENCE AT THE ELECTION NIGHT EVENT – as Bartek Godusławski writes: “Thanks to the police officers, we learn when PiS President Jarosław Kaczyński and Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro arrived and left Nowogrodzka Street, and also that after the election night event, the prime minister does not go home yet but will attend another party. This post-election meeting of the portal 300polityka was organized at the Flaming & Co restaurant at 5 Chopina Street. – The State Protection Service went there to do reconnaissance, the prime minister and Deputy Prime Minister Gliński will have a meeting there. So let them know to prepare for preventive, external area security – a police officer issues an order. – We established contact with a State Protection Service officer on Chopina Street. Deputy Prime Minister Gliński is already here, we are waiting for the rest of the guests. At their explicit request, we are leaving only two patrols – he hears in response.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/artykuly/599274,operacja-wybory-policja-podsluch-kaczynski-pis-polityka.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Jolanta Kwaśniewska, Katarzyna Włodkowska, Jolanta Danielak, Krystian Jarubas.