-- DONALD TUSK BEFORE THE VAT COMMISSION IN HORAY, EVENING MEETING WITH KKZ, BALCEROWICZ AND WAŁĘSA AT EMPIK, TERLECKI ON THE PROBLEM WITH KUKIZ'S REFUGEES - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/06/17/ -- THE ELECTION RESULT WAS A VERY POSITIVE SURPRISE FOR US - JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI IN AN INTERVIEW WITH NIEZALEŻNA: “There was one poll that gave us an even greater lead - 45 percent to 34 percent. So on the one hand, it wasn't wrong, but on the other hand, it was wrong. However, the vast majority did give us a slight lead, and the election result was a very positive surprise for us. There was no surprise in the evening, because we were hoping for such a result, but in the morning it was a pleasant surprise.” -- JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI ON RAISING WAGES: “Perhaps we will still use these 'Fridays', but at the moment there will be no new, major plan regarding social transfers, because we are responsible. Perhaps such a program will be created during the term, if we have good economic growth, then we are always inclined to make these transfers. However, we would like Poland to require these transfers as little as possible, because it is also a matter of raising wages; we have now raised the minimum wage by over PLN 200, and there may be further actions. We would like people to earn as much as possible, so that those earnings, which cannot be measured by the arithmetic average, because it is misleading, we should consider the mode of the curve, which is where most earnings are in Poland, and they are really modest. They are growing, but they are really modest, and we want this to increase, because we are not particularly pleased that there is a group of people in Poland earning too much for our GDP level. We will be pleased when our average employee earns a lot.” https://m.niezalezna.pl/275941-wynik-eurowyborow-sojusz-z-usa-propozycje-na-kampanie-nasz-wywiad-z-j-kaczynskim -- THE PRIME MINISTER SANG AND PLAYED GUITAR AT THE MEETING OF THE GAZETA POLSKA CLUBS - VIDEO: https://m.niezalezna.pl/275967-wspaniala-atmosfera-na-zjezdzie-klubow-gp-premier-morawiecki-chwycil-za-gitare-zdjecia-i-wideo -- THE EUROPEAN COALITION SPOKE WITH ONE VOICE WITH PIS - LESZEK JAŻDŻEWSKI IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MAGDALENA PERNET in RZ: “Voices emerged from the opposition that I lost these elections for them. Joking aside, since I gained 38% without any campaign, maybe if I had mobilized for the autumn elections – it would be 45%. If the opposition truly believed that a person who has no connection with them caused them to lose the elections, then it's worse than bad. If they think this way: 'now in the autumn there will be no speech by Jażdżewski, so maybe we will succeed,' then I wish them luck. Almost all European Coalition politicians distanced themselves from what I said, stood in a row, and for a week spoke with one voice with PiS. They were completely unbelievable in this, just as a week later, when they completely changed their front and threw shoes at Jarosław Kaczyński, suddenly becoming the vanguard of the fight against pedophilia in the Church.” -- THE OPPOSITION IS STILL MARCHING TOWARDS DEFEAT BY ITSELF - JAŻDŻEWSKI CONTINUES: “The opposition has condemned itself to defeat and continues to march towards it. The local elections showed a trend and a victory for PiS with a large lead over the opposition in the regional assembly elections, which was offset by the feeling that PiS was losing in the cities. In the European elections, this spoonful of honey was missing in the barrel of tar for the opposition.” -- THERE HAS BEEN NO SELF-REFLECTION SINCE KOMOROWSKI'S DEFEAT - JAŻDŻEWSKI CONTINUES: “Since Komorowski's defeat, there has been no self-reflection in the opposition. They repeat that they didn't reach out to people enough, that there wasn't enough communication. But for communication to happen, you need to have something to say.” -- JAŻDŻEWSKI ON CHALLENGING SCHETYNA: “One can point to names like Trzaskowski, Budka, or Brejza, but either they will challenge Schetyna and say that he can no longer be the face of the entire project, or they will continue to play his game. Schetyna has record-low trust ratings among voters, and this cannot be reversed in four months. But the problem is broader; it's not just about him stepping back, but about the fact that at this moment PO as a whole is the collective Jarosław Kaczyński from the time of his electoral defeats. Without him, the right-wing camp could not have been built, and with him, elections could not be won.” https://www.rp.pl/Wywiady-i-rozmowy/306169957-Opozycja-przegra-60.html#paragraph2 -- INDECISIVE TUSK BECOMES THE OPPOSITION'S PROBLEM - BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA in RZ: “Indecisive, charming, and enigmatic Tusk is becoming more than an asset to the opposition; he is becoming one of its most significant problems. Indecisive, but present on the political market, the leader obscures the real picture of leadership. He takes away opportunities from those who are truly playing for survival. He overshadows their solid work, daily toil, and attempts to fight. Until he decides on his role, he is an empty alternative to Grzegorz Schetyna, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, or ambitious local government officials. He leaves them in a peculiar limbo, and the voters in vain hope. Both weaken their motivation and reduce their chances of success. He postpones necessary decisions. The opposition has no time. If it wants to successfully confront the party of President Kaczyński, which is excellently prepared for elections, it must adopt a new strategy today. So, Mr. Chairman: your decision is needed urgently. Sink or swim.” https://www.rp.pl/Publicystyka/190619556-Boguslaw-Chrabota-Tusk-zagadkowy.html -- ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI ON PIS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH 30 AND 40-YEAR-OLDS - ANNOYANCE IS GROWING: “Interestingly, 30- and 40-year-olds are the main beneficiaries of Law and Justice's flagship program, Family 500 Plus (they are the ones most likely to have minor children). Why did the majority of them, and a significant one at that, vote for the European Coalition? Could it be that they realized that PiS's social policy based on individual cash transfers – while certainly pleasant – does not solve their problems in the long run? That what they receive from the state, they later have to spend on private doctor visits, extra tutoring for their child, or a damn air purifier? In other words, that the 'second wave of privatization,' which is currently sweeping through Poland, is eating up the extra cash? Perhaps – contrary to general belief – the sovereign (or at least that part of it that sustains the state today) is not satisfied at all. And if so, what offer does the opposition have for these people? It is important for members of parties outside the United Right to ask themselves this question. But even more important is that the answer says nothing, absolutely nothing, about how great a success '89 was. I think that people who entered the Third Republic as children are not really bothered by such stories. I'll say more, when they hear them for the umpteenth time – especially during an election campaign – the annoyance grows.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/opinie/suweren-jest-zadowolony-opinia/c2rg542 -- WŁODZIMIERZ CZARZASTY TELLS AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK HOW HE GETS ANNOYED WHEN THE OPPOSITION TALKS ONLY ABOUT THE SENATE: “I get furious when they say in serious media and among serious politicians: let's do everything so that PiS doesn't have a constitutional majority. I'm boiling! Not because of the weather. We only want enough votes in the Sejm to block constitutional changes?! This means we are taking away our chances for a majority in the Sejm, we are giving up at the starting blocks.” -- CZARZASTY ON NOT CRITICIZING SCHETYNA: “I have no inclination to go on the media and say what was wrong and what was right. I'm sick of it: 'Because Schetyna is a bad leader.'” -- CZARZASTY ON THE FACT THAT SPLITTING THE OPPOSITION INTO BLOCKS IS NOT WISE: “For me, it is. There are many smart people in Wiosna. Maciej Gdula, for example. Dominika Wielowieyska proposed this thesis: no more than two coalitions, but not less than two coalitions. It sounds impressive, but it's not smart. It's like this. Let's assume one coalition gets 13%, and the other 20%.” -- SLD IS THE THIRD FORCE - CZARZASTY CONTINUES in OKO: “One can count like this: SLD is the third force, because it has 5 seats, PSL and Wiosna are the fourth, because they have 3 each. We got 6 percent of the votes, the same as Wiosna. And I didn't jump around.” -- CZARZASTY ON THE SITUATION OF THE LEFT OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN COALITION WITHOUT SENTIMENT: “We are adding the electorate of the Greens and the Razem party. In my opinion, optimistically, we will gather two million. I'm talking about those who will go and won't change their minds. But there might be a leftist electorate that decides it's rational to vote for a force that has a chance to remove PiS from power. This was the case in the Warsaw mayoral elections. Andrzej Rozenek, the SLD candidate, received 5,000 votes for councilor and 1,800 for mayor. In the same district. This means 3,200 people were afraid that Patryk Jaki might win and voted for Rafał Trzaskowski. Furthermore. We must assume a coalition. This means winning 8 percent in the elections. And we optimistically have 10 percent, so we are on the verge. This is the situation of the left without sentiment.” -- CZARZASTY POLEMIZES WITH THE THESIS THAT SAME-SEX PARTNERSHIP RIGHTS CANNOT BE INTRODUCED WITH PSL: “I won't introduce same-sex partnership rights with PSL? How do you know I won't? When we discussed IVF, we managed to create a position that IVF is a matter of medicine, not ideology.” https://oko.press/wlodzimierz-czarzasty-chcialbym-wielkiej-koalicji-sil-opozycyjnych-z-robertem-biedroniem/ -- JACEK HARŁUKOWICZ ON THE CASE OF PLOTS IN LOWER SILESIA - writes in GW: “Szagdaj is a Wrocław entrepreneur, rather middle-level. He ran a construction company and timber yards. In the 1980s, he studied at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, a mecca of Fighting Solidarity, built by the father of the current prime minister – Kornel Morawiecki. He is also a long-time close friend of Iwona and Mateusz Morawiecki. Some acquaintances even consider them family. – Szagdaj's son calls Mateusz nothing else but 'uncle' – one of them tells us. Why was Mateusz Morawiecki's strange transaction with Bogdan Szagdaj for? And why did the prime minister decide to pay ten times more for shares he had previously sold for PLN 190,000? I asked these questions a few weeks ago at the Prime Minister's Chancellery. I have not received an answer to this day.” http://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,24903010,dlaczego-mateusz-morawiecki-odsprzedal-czesc-dzialki-kupionej.html -- LUDWIK DORN in GW ON THE ANGER OF THE PROVINCE: “In the European elections, small-town Poland showed that it is furious at the gentry from the big cities.” -- DORN ON BIEDROŃ'S APPEARANCE BEING THE ONLY CHANGE IN METROPOLITAN AREAS: “Well, in these six metropolitan areas, PiS did not budge. Here it gained 1.5 percentage points more, there it lost 1 percentage point, but generally it stood still. The European Coalition stood similarly, if we sum up the results of the parties forming it from the 2015 elections. Since Robert Biedroń's strongly anti-PiS Wiosna, a new political formation, achieved above-average results in the metropolises (except for Gdańsk), they became even less PiS-leaning than they were almost four years ago.” -- ON THE PROVINCE, PIS ONLY GREW - DORN CONTINUES: “However, the situation is different in small towns, towns, medium-sized cities, and large cities, but not metropolises. I haven't checked all 900 cities in Poland, but I've randomly checked dozens of them, considering the geographical diversity and the related political, socio-economic, and cultural differences. I didn't find any where PiS's support decreased, while the scale of the increase varied: from 2 to 9 percentage points.” -- THE PROVINCE DOES NOT WANT TO BE SEEN AS A RESERVOIR OF LABOR - DORN'S CONCLUSION: “The rest of the 'province' sees itself as a place of residence for a reservoir of labor, destined to migrate either to the metropolises or to Germany or the United Kingdom. And the province is ceasing to accept this subordinate, peripheral, or semi-peripheral status.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24903010,polska-prowincja-zbuntowala-sie-przeciw-metropoliom.html -- KAMIL DZIUBKA in ONET on the possibility of Trzaskowski's candidacy: “In Platforma, the topic of looking for someone to replace Tusk is officially non-existent, but it is constantly being discussed in informal conversations. The name-calling has begun. First and foremost is the president of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, who is one of the few politicians associated with success in PO currently. He won the capital's elections with flying colors. This is his obvious success, but also a burden. Firstly, he hasn't even settled into the city hall yet and would have to respond to accusations that he just started and already wants to finish. Secondly, while Trzaskowski could have won over 50% of the votes in the first round in Warsaw, it might turn out that on a national scale, his ceiling is set too low.” -- TRZASKOWSKI ON THE PRESIDENTIAL TOPIC NOT EXISTING: “Probably there is no more liberal city in Poland than Warsaw, but the reality a few dozen kilometers from the Palace of Culture and Science looks different, as evidenced by the crushing victory of PiS a few weeks ago. In short, Poland is more conservative than many might have thought until recently. And Trzaskowski is, after all, the face of the liberal Platform. In an interview with Onet, the president of Warsaw argues that at this moment the topic of the presidency of the country does not exist for him: – I am focusing on Warsaw and supporting my colleagues from local government who want to participate in the parliamentary elections. There is nothing more important for me now.” -- DZIUBKA ON ZDANOWSKA'S CANDIDACY: “From our conversations with politicians of the largest opposition party, it emerges that President of Łódź Hanna Zdanowska also has good ratings on the stock market of potential candidates. Firstly, six months ago she swept away the competition and won over 70% of the votes in her city. Her opponent Waldemar Buda from PiS received only 23% of the votes in Łódź, which means that even some Law and Justice voters supported Zdanowska.” -- DZIUBKA WITH A PROBLEM CONSIDERING KOSNIAK'S CANDIDACY: “In his case, however, the matter may become irrelevant long before the presidential elections. It is unknown whether the Peasants will run together with PO, Nowoczesna, and SLD in the parliamentary elections. Already, there is friction on the PO-PSL line after Kosiniak-Kamysz's declaration that he wants to build his own Polish Coalition. – We want a broad agreement. Even broader than in the European elections. If PSL doesn't want to go with us, the road is open – a politician from PO who knows the backstage of the relationship between the two groupings tells Onet. If the Peasants go it alone in the autumn, they may not cross the election threshold, and this would certainly rule out any chances for the party leader to fight for the highest positions in the state.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/zrodla-w-po-tusk-nie-wystartuje-na-prezydenta-w-partii-ruszyla-gielda-potencjalnych/ms8qk4g -- GAZETA WYBORCZA IN ITS HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT WRITES ABOUT JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI AND HIS CANDIDACY FOR SENATOR IN 1989: “The situation changed when he met Barbara Labuda on a Warsaw street, whom he knew from the times of the Workers' Defence Committee. The conversation turned to the upcoming elections. – So, where will you run? – she asked upon parting. – I won't. – What do you mean? Are you crazy? You don't want to run? Labuda left by taxi, but the idea stayed with Kaczyński. I really have no choice, he thought.” -- GW ON HOW KRASULSKI GAVE UP HIS SEAT IN THE SENATE TO PJK: “Lech Kaczyński was pleased when his brother announced that he wanted to take part in the next maneuver battle, this time for parliament. They agreed that both would run for the Senate, as the elections to it were fully free. But from which district? Jarosław had been associated with Warsaw since birth, he worked in Białystok for some time, but the choice fell on Elbląg because Lech had good relations with the local 'S' activists. Leonard Krasulski, one of the leaders of the underground in Elbląg, and since 2005 a PiS MP: I was supposed to run for the Senate when Leszek Kaczyński called me. I had great respect for him, as he had helped me many times in the 1980s with legal matters. Leszek asked if there wouldn't be a place in Elbląg for his brother Jarosław. I gave up my seat with relief, as I couldn't imagine myself in the Senate.” http://wyborcza.pl/alehistoria/7,121681,24894879,jaroslaw-kaczynski-bede-rzadzil-do-dziewiecdziesiatki.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Katarzyna Sabiłło, Lesław Piszewski.