-- WKK NOT FOR COALITION WITH PiS, SCHETYNA ON THE AUTUMN PLAN AND THAT NO ONE FROM THE KOMOROWSKI CAMPAIGN WAS IN THE HEADQUARTERS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/06/11/ -- PRIME MINISTER MORAWIECKI, UKRAINIANS WILL SOON LEAVE - RZ's lead article: “Employers are sounding the alarm: if the government does not urgently change the procedures for legal employment of foreign workers, we will lose the race for cheap labor from the East to the Czech Republic and Germany.” https://www.rp.pl/Kadry/306109904-Ukraincy-zaraz-wyjada-z-Polski-bo-kuleje-legalizacja-zatrudniania-cudzoziemcow---alarmuja-pracodawcy.html -- PiS's PLAN FOR THE AUTUMN - described by Agata Kondzińska in Gazeta Wyborcza: “That is why PiS has reserved the first weekend of July in Katowice. From Friday to Sunday, activists will summarize four years of governance, but also develop new proposals with which they will go into the autumn elections. – This is a nod to our best traditions – says a PiS politician. Because four years ago, PiS gathered in Katowice, organized dozens of thematic panels, and then sent out a message across Poland that they had drawers full of laws and a team ready to govern.” -- KONDZIŃSKA ON SEARCHING FOR AN ELECTORAL DISTRICT FOR THE PRIME MINISTER: “Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will undergo electoral verification. His natural constituency would be Wrocław, but – as his advisors tell us – the decision on this matter has not yet been made. – After the publications in Gazeta Wyborcza concerning land plots, and also due to the fact that we are not achieving the best electoral results in Wrocław, it may turn out that the Prime Minister will open the list in another region, more favorable to us – says one of Morawiecki’s close associates.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24882931,pis-szykuje-sie-do-wyborow-szuka-lokomotyw-i-okregu-dla-morawieckiego.html -- WHEN THERE'S NO FISH, SCHETYNA IS THE FISH - Marek Beylin in Gazeta Wyborcza: “I defend the PO leader because who else would replace him? Since 2015, I have repeatedly criticized Schetyna for his lack of sensitivity to social emotions, his vague and contradictory statements, for the long-held conviction that being anti-PiS without his own program for Poland is enough to win, and for his poor recent election campaign. But at least for a year now, I've seen that there is no other leader in Civic Platform.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24884676,na-bezrybiu-i-schetyna-ryba.html -- A GROUP THAT HAS TROUBLE FORMULATING CLEAR PROPOSALS - ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI ON LACK OF DISCIPLINE IN CIVIC PLATFORM - WRITES IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Gawłowski deleted the post after some time, but that's irrelevant. More important is the goal he pursued – to show that PiS voters are alcoholics and lovers of beating family members. It is difficult to reconcile such an approach with Schetyna's call to persuade (with respect) undecided voters. And this is one of the problems of Civic Platform: Schetyna, who supposedly holds everything with a firm hand, cannot get his colleagues to maintain a consistent message on completely fundamental issues. As a result, a group that has serious difficulties in formulating clear programmatic proposals, even when it articulates an idea, does not communicate it consistently and coherently.” -- PAWŁOWSKI ON LACK OF DISCIPLINE IN CIVIC PLATFORM: “However, if the promise to repair healthcare, education, and the state of the air is to be the basis of the campaign, the opposition needs not only concrete ideas. It must talk about them constantly, and this requires a minimum community of beliefs on this matter and discipline within the party. These are currently lacking, and the cycle closes.” -- PAWŁOWSKI ON OPPOSITION POLITICIANS ASSOCIATING EVERYTHING WITH THE PRL: “Today's leaders seem to think that since they are fighting the same battle as 30 years ago, they should use the same tools. Nothing could be further from the truth: neither the fight, nor the opponent, nor, especially, the tools are the same. The famous Anglo-Saxon saying says that when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. For many opposition politicians, this 'hammer' with which they unsuccessfully try to reshape reality is their experience from the PRL. When one hears such retro language, it's hard to avoid the impression that, ultimately, all the talk about a new future is marketing fluff. And the entire opposition program – in essence – boils down to the famous: 'let it be as it was.'” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/06/11/pawlowski-schetyna-kampania-wyborcza-program-dycyplina/ -- ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI ON HOW PiS SUCCEEDED IN IMPOSING THE EMOTION OF CIVIC PLATFORM'S SWING TO THE LEFT: “During the campaign, PiS constantly repeated that 'Civic Platform has swung to the left.' This is an untrue thesis, but as a propaganda ploy, it proved effective. After the lost elections, even a coalition partner – PSL – stated that the famous 'swing to the left' harmed KE. Meanwhile, calling PO a left-wing party is absurd, and manifestations of PO's 'leftism' are manipulations.” -- CIVIC PLATFORM IS FAR FROM THE LEFT - LESZCZYŃSKI FURTHER ON THE MYTH: “All these events were not only unrelated to legislative initiatives or the official programs of Civic Coalition, European Coalition, or Civic Platform itself. They were mostly incidents over which opposition politicians had no control. PO struggles to formulate postulates – such as registered partnerships – that could be called rather liberal. PO or KE are truly very far from the left. What would Civic Platform have to do for us to talk about its change of course to the left? For example, announce progressive tax changes, unequivocal support for the recognition of LGBT+ partnerships or marriages by Polish law, or make the fight against the climate catastrophe one of its main program goals.” https://oko.press/wrobieni-w-lewice-skret-na-lewo-w-wykonaniu-po-to-sprytny-chwyt-propagandowy-pis/ -- THE OPPOSITION LOST THE MOST FAVORABLE ELECTIONS FOR ITSELF - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “The truth is that the opposition lost the most favorable elections for itself, on the best possible programmatic ground, by throwing all its resources onto the table. Looking back, the foundations of support for Jarosław Kaczyński's government are solid, and the results of the local elections (also a win, but smaller) were more of a distortion of the picture than a change in trend. As a side note: hence the ideas of drawing in local bigwigs and promoting the project of breaking up Poland. Shocking findings on this matter can be found in the latest issue of 'Sieci.'” -- KARNOWSKI ON CIVIC PLATFORM GOING IT ALONE: “However, if Schetyna firmly plants his feet on the ground and consciously builds a party now for the opposition period, aligns its ranks, and pushes out potential rebels, he has a good chance of maintaining his camp in the coming years. In such a scenario, there should be no talk of any coalition, and Civic Platform should run under its own banner, as Schetyna's party. This is now easier because Donald Tusk's position as a potential renovator has drastically weakened. Of course, this requires intellectual courage to calmly assess the objective situation, to accept that the plan to drive PiS out within the framework of anti-PiS has failed, and to acknowledge the defeat of the tactics of the last 4 years. It's interesting what Schetyna will decide.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/450404-powiem-wam-co-powinien-dzis-zrobic-schetyna -- CIVIC PLATFORM CANNOT OR WILL NOT CHANGE COURSE - TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ: “The European Parliament elections showed that despite outrage over the pedophilia scandal, society does not want a cultural revolution. By giving space to radical left-wing slogans, Civic Platform lost because it was unacceptable to its moderate electorate and mobilized its opponents. However, attempts to carry out a revolution are still being made and will continue to be made. The participation of leading PO politicians in the Equality Parade indicates that the main opposition force does not want to change the course chosen before the European elections – or cannot.” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/306119972-Szykuja-grunt-pod-rewolucje-kulturowa.html -- THE WIRE AFFAIR SHOULD BE TREATED AS ORGANIZED CRIME - MAREK BIERNACKI IN CONVERSATION WITH JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “Because then all the details related to the wiretapping affair would be clarified. Prosecutors did not want to press charges for organized crime, which, in my opinion, as a former head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, was a mistake. The wiretapping affair meets the criteria of organized crime. In the future, it will be necessary to explain why the prosecution treated Falenta's case so leniently. If charges had been brought as for organized crime, the penalty would have automatically increased to five years. Such charges were never brought against Falenta and his associates, but they should have been. Then the waiters and Falenta would have testified much more extensively and had better memories.” -- UNDER THIS GOVERNMENT, THE WIRE AFFAIR WILL NOT BE CLARIFIED - BIERNACKI FURTHER IN RZ: “Falenta was useful when he served the political goal of PiS, helping to overthrow the PO-PSL government. However, when he threatens to reveal documents detrimental to PiS, no one wants to award him medals anymore. Falenta's actions were illegal from the beginning. It should be clarified whether he was inspired by a political group or a neighboring power. I have no doubt that under this government, the wiretapping affair will not be clarified.” https://www.rp.pl/Afera-tasmowa/306109898-Za-tej-wladzy-afera-podsluchowa-nie-zostanie-wyjasniona.html -- FALENTA RECORDED EVERYONE - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ IN Onet: “But any contact with Falenta before the affair broke out could be dangerous for PiS. Since Falenta recorded everyone, he could have also recorded PiS politicians. Perhaps – as we hear – he offered them access to his recordings, compromising Civic Platform? Even that would be a crime – because anyone who knows about illegal recordings should inform the prosecutor's office. It so happens that several people associated with PiS – whose names appeared in our conversations with informants knowledgeable about the background of the affair – were quietly removed after the affair broke out. This is what happened, for example, with Kostrzewski. A long-time controller of PiS's financial secrets, who lent money to the party leader for his mother's treatment, was forced to part ways with the party overnight in the fall of 2014.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/marek-falenta-szantazuje-pis-co-chce-zrobic-bohater-afery-tasmowej/ex8y3cc -- FALENTA IS BLACKMAILING PiS - Wojciech Czuchnowski on the front page of Gazeta Wyborcza: “Before fleeing Poland, Marek Falenta spoke about a recording from the PiS headquarters from 2014. Jarosław Kaczyński allegedly commented on the content of wiretaps from Warsaw restaurants, which the businessman had provided him with – Wyborcza learned. Wyborcza learned about the recording Falenta made at Nowogrodzka Street from a lobbyist associated with the President's Chancellery. Falenta went to him because he hoped Andrzej Duda would pardon him, although the latter had already rejected the request twice. According to our source, Falenta said that he had a recording on which Jarosław Kaczyński comments on the wiretaps of PO-PSL government politicians, which Falenta brought to the PiS headquarters in Warsaw.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24885364,wyborcza-ujawnia-falenta-oferowal-nagranie-z-kaczynskim.html -- FALENTA'S TRACKS LEAD TO PiS - Czuchnowski in a commentary: “These were no longer mere suspicions. Numerous tracks lead from Falenta to PiS. The letter from Marek Falenta to President Duda, revealed today by Rzeczpospolita, confirms and organizes all these tracks. Indeed, it is desperate blackmail, but blackmail from a man presenting a bill to political masterminds who used him, lied to him, and finally let him down. If Falenta now releases more 'tapes of truth,' PiS will have big trouble.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24883093,tropy-tasm-prowadza-do-pis.html -- PiS HAS A PROBLEM WITH FALENTA DUE TO ITS OWN WISHES - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI in RZ: “PiS, in turn, will emphasize that the businessman is unreliable and, as a convicted person, will do anything to get out of prison. The catch is that when the media recently revealed tapes unfavorable to PO, PiS had no doubts about using the fruits of that poisoned tree. Today, when Falenta's actions could backfire on PiS, suddenly distancing oneself from him doesn't look very convincing. Especially since one gets the impression that he was treated quite leniently by this government.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190619949-Szuldrzynski-PiS-ma-klopot-z-Falenta-na-wlasne-zyczenie.html -- MAREK KOZUBAL in RZ on what F-35 would mean for Poland and that we might get them earlier by pushing Turkey out of the queue: “Today, the geopolitical situation is somewhat in our favor. Perhaps an acceleration of deliveries will be possible because the Americans will push Turkey out of the F-35 queue for buying the S-400 system from Russia. The first decisions have already been made, and Turkish pilots are to stop their training on the F-35 in the USA. The purchase of such an aircraft will cause a quantum leap in the capabilities of our Armed Forces. These machines could become the main element of our deterrence arsenal. Such aircraft, protected by stealth technologies (thus difficult to detect), can, if we possess the capabilities to fully utilize them, overcome anti-access barriers created by the Russians. In a word, carry out a successful attack.” https://www.rp.pl/Sluzby-mundurowe/306109891-F-35-wypatrywane-jak-deszcz.html -- NEW YORKER RECOMMENDS OLGA TOKARCZUK'S BOOK FOR THE SUMMER: “In the opening sentence of the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk’s “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead,” Janina, the novel’s unflappably independent and eccentric sixtysomething protagonist, announces, “I am already at an age and additionally in a state where I must always wash my feet thoroughly before bed, in the event of having to be removed by an ambulance in the Night.” (The book, which was originally published in 2009, was recently translated into English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.) Janina lives in a Polish village, close to the border of the Czech Republic, and she’s vaguely ill. Maybe “he who suffers has special access to God,” she thinks at one point. Her solitary days and nights are spent translating William Blake, constructing complex astrological charts, caring for the summer homes of wealthy neighbors, and keeping a hawk-like eye out for the silent animals that roam the surrounding land. Janina has organized her life around these varied forms of intense and meticulous observation; her mind is fixed to the present but fixated on eternity, and it excludes much of what comes in between. This makes her a wonderful and confounding narrator for a mysterious series of village deaths that make up the plot of “Drive Your Plow.” She hatches a theory—that the local animals are rising up against the people who eat and hunt them. Like Blake, or like an astrologer, or, perhaps, like a deer who intuits the end of her life in the sound of a footstep, Janina understands that the “largest things are contained in the smallest.” She writes long, anonymous letters to the police station, in which she describes the earth-spanning system of cruelty and violence that manifests in what we unthinkingly do. Of course, most of the villagers think Janina is crazy, but they underestimate her. (One of the subterranean questions at the center of the novel’s strangely coherent world: If we saw animals more clearly, if we respected their agency, would we then be able to hold them responsible for murder?) “Drive Your Plow” is exhilarating in a way that feels fierce and private, almost inarticulable; it’s one of the most existentially refreshing novels I’ve read in a long time.—Jia Tolentino” https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/what-were-reading-this-summer-2019 -- BIRTHDAYS: Bronisław Wildstein, Krzysztof Janik, Anna-Maria Żukowska, Mirosław Koźlakiewicz.