-- 300LIVE: Bielan on Schetyna Wanting to Be Prime Minister But Unable to Build an Electoral Bloc, Kierwiński Accuses PSL of Undermining the Opposition:https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/07/15/ -- PiS LIST LEADERS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF AS MANY AS 11 REGIONAL NEWSPAPERS. -- VON DER LEYEN'S VOTE FAR FROM CERTAIN - EUOBSERVER: “Unhappy socialist and liberal MEPs could upset Ursula von der Leyen's bid to be the next European Commission president in a vote this week”. https://euobserver.com/political/145449 -- IF SCHETYNA DOESN'T BECOME PRIME MINISTER THIS AUTUMN, HIS POLITICAL FATE WILL BE SEALED - ALEKSANDER KWAŚNIEWSKI IN DGP: “He is playing for the highest stakes, which should encourage less selfish thinking. If he does not fulfill his political dream and does not become prime minister this autumn, his political fate will be sealed.” -- LEFT-WING COALITION, IF SCHETYNA REJECTS SLD - KWAŚNIEWSKI CONTINUES: “Today, a left-wing coalition is an alternative only if Schetyna rejects SLD. In that case, the Alliance will have to quickly start talks with Wiosna and Razem. However, a joint list should be built around SLD. Because the 5 percent threshold is surmountable three months before the elections. There is no such guarantee if one tries to form a coalition and face the 8 percent electoral threshold.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/602538,kwasniewski-schetyna-opozycja-wybory-parlamentarne-po-ko-psl-sld-koalicja-pis-czarzasty.html -- JACEK KURSKI TO ATTACK WITH A FEATURE FILM ABOUT AMBER GOLD - GW'S FRONT PAGE - as reported by Agnieszka Kublik and Wojciech Czuchnowski: “TVP wants to promote the thriller "Solid Gold" before the elections, the script of which is based on the motifs of the Amber Gold case. The film's advertisements are intended to target the opposition, which PiS accuses of ties to the scandal. (...) A "Wyborcza" informant claims that President Kurski personally supervises the production of the spots. He is an experienced filmmaker, and he showed his ability to create propaganda in the documentary "Night Shift" about the background of the fall of Jan Olszewski's government. The spots can be shown as early as September.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24993717,telewizja-polska-oz-loci-pis-jacek-kurski-zaatakuje-filmem-na.html -- ZIOBRO WANTS TO OUTSHINE MORAWIECKI - Agata Kondzińska and Rafał Wójcik in GW: “Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, leader of Solidarna Polska, another PiS coalition partner, is counting on a great electoral result. He chose Kielce, the second-largest constituency in Poland by number of eligible voters (just over 1 million, Warsaw has almost 1.6 million). He is not expected to have strong competitors on the list, and he wants to achieve record support and outshine Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, with whom he has long been battling for influence in the ruling camp. The head of government, for whom a suitable starting position was sought for a long time, decided on Katowice (just under 800,000 eligible voters), not his hometown of Wrocław.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24993421,ziobro-chce-pobic-morawieckiego-w-walce-o-sejm-tajemnice-jedynek.html -- PLATFORMA WANTS TO BE THE SOLE OPPOSITION IN THE NEXT SEJM - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “Recent events confirm that in the opposition - at least from the perspective of some of its leaders - the game is no longer about removing PiS, but about securing the best possible position on the opposition side for the next four years. One can even ask whether Schetyna's goal is not for Platforma to be the sole opposition in the next parliament? This would have its drawbacks, as part of political life would then move outside parliament, and new initiatives would emerge. On the other hand, Platforma would have a chance to rebuild its power from the years when it didn't have to negotiate or share with anyone, when it encompassed almost the entire political world of the Third Republic. The situation is dynamic; opposition politicians do not decide everything independently; media and possibly foreign pressures also play an important role. However, the game of Platforma's leaders is becoming increasingly clear. For them, every day of chaos and uncertainty is valuable. Because either PSL and SLD will be brought to their knees, or **Platforma will run alone, giving others no time to build strong and credible alternatives.**” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/454981-a-moze-po-chce-byc-jedyna-opozycja-w-przyszlym-parlamencie -- MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON MEDIA ESTABLISHED UNDER THE WSI BANNER: “I have always wondered why people who claim to be moderately right-wing (accepted by the Third Republic?) attack with such ferocity those media that unequivocally stand on the side of truth in the battle for Poland? Is it about legitimizing themselves in the mainstream, which forgives everything but media that are fully independent of them? Or perhaps it is a guilty conscience that there are people who do not have to (or do not want to) play games by offering the devil a deal? How can one calmly watch media established under the WSI banner, consisting solely of hateful clips, and not write a word about it, while at the same time attacking, for example, TVP's "Wiadomości"? How can one not see what is happening on their own airwaves, on their own pages, yet attack others so ruthlessly?” -- CAN WE DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST HORDES OF ORCS WITH A DISGUSTED LICK OF THE LIPS - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “Here and there, the question is simple: Can one defend oneself against hordes of orcs with a full, disgusted lick of the lips? I have my doubts. And I understand that many do not want to participate in the war with the orcs. Because one can get hurt, because it's unpleasant, because children are persecuted (as Jacek Żakowski advised the mob back in 2016). I see these elections, these transitions to the antechambers of the Third Republic's Salon, and I truly understand; I have no regrets. But please, do not try to convince others that there are no orcs, that they do not trample everything we love, that one can win them over with smacking. Because that is not true. Because you have won nothing, and Poland was sold off. Because the right had wonderful publicists building careers, and the left had effective media. Because the truth does not lie in the middle, which you yourselves know perfectly well. The price for such illusions (or the lack of people willing to undertake this task) has been immense in the past. To put it bluntly - it was paid (as in 2010) in blood.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/454971-czy-da-sie-obronic-przed-hordami-orkow-mlasnieciem -- PO HITS PiS'S MOST SENSITIVE POINTS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “The programmatic convention concludes a long period of opposition indecision. However, it is evident that the KO strategists have decided to strike at PiS's most sensitive points. Seeing that the program of large social transfers is directed towards young people entering the labor market, retirees, and families with children – Schetyna addressed his speech to those who finance the state budget with their hard work. The second point of the "six" concerns reducing burdens for workers and promoting employment. The first concerns freedom and democracy and is addressed to those who do not consider PiS's Poland an oasis of freedom, but a place of intensifying political atmosphere – starting with issues of constitutionality, rule of law, subordination of the prosecution or judiciary to politicians, democracy understood as minority rights, to women's rights.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190719710-Szuldrzynski-Kampania-zaczyna-sie-na-serio.html -- SCHETYNA ESCAPES IDEOLOGICAL WARFARE - Paweł Wroński in GW: “Koalicja Obywatelska has emphasized economic and social proposals. It clearly avoids the ideological war that served PiS in the European Parliament elections. It is evident that instead of discussing the role of the Church and LGBT rights, it prefers to discuss the arrogance of power, the collapse of the state and its institutions, the deplorable state of education, the decline of healthcare, and the catastrophic state of the natural environment after four years of Jarosław Kaczyński's party rule.” -- WITHOUT PSL, THE PO AND SLD ARRANGEMENT MAKES NO SENSE - WROŃSKI CONTINUES: “Despite their good experiences with SLD, PO politicians are aware that an arrangement without PSL makes no sense. It would be an excellent target for PiS's attack, which is conducting a crusade against the imagined "post-communists.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24990424,koalicja-zaczela-kampanie.html -- SCHETYNA'S PO IS THE MOST SOCIAL VERSION OF THIS GROUPING IN ITS HISTORY - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ: “Schetyna's Platforma is the most social version of this grouping in its almost 20-year history. Few people today remember Schetyna's programmatic speech at the Platforma congress in Łódź in the autumn of 2017. Back then, the PO leader first made some of the announcements he has now repeated – such as the mythical Act of Renewal of Democracy, i.e., a single law with which Platforma intends to clean up after PiS. He also spoke then about introducing a thirteenth pension, extending the 500+ program to the first child, and exempting young people up to 25 years old who have started a business from contributions. Today, PiS is implementing all these social demands.” -- SCHETYNA KNEELS BEFORE LEFT-WING VOTERS - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “It didn't take decades. After just three years, Schetyna is kneeling before left-wing voters, just as Kopacz and Tusk did before him. Not only does he promise facilitation of registered partnerships. He often speaks about women's rights, announces the extension of the in vitro program, and suggests that he will curb the conscience clause, which doctors invoke when refusing abortions in legally permissible situations.” -- STANKIEWICZ ON PO'S PROBLEMS WITH CREDIBILITY: “An example from another area. Schetyna himself, as Marshal of the Sejm, promised in 2011 to address the bill on registered partnerships. Platforma ruled until 2015, and did not introduce such a law. Therefore, Platforma's political competitors – especially PiS – focus their criticism of Schetyna's program on PO's lack of credibility. However, it should be appreciated that – for the first time in over two years – the opposition leader is presenting a concrete political program. Thanks to this, the opposition is finally talking about specifics, not about who will go into elections with whom and who does not want on their lists.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/wybory-parlamentarne-obietnice-platformy-obywatelskiej/nng9d8m -- TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA ON KO'S SLOGAN - WORK MUST PAY OFF: “If there was one slogan that symbolized the entire ideological and programmatic package presented by Platforma Obywatelska, it was the slogan: "Work must pay off." This is Platforma's response to the social programs of Law and Justice, under which benefits are obtained regardless of whether someone works or not. As part of the "six-pack" program, the party proposed "Higher Salaries," providing state subsidies for lower wages. Grzegorz Schetyna once again reiterated that no benefits granted by PiS to citizens will be taken away.” -- I'VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE - SAWCZUK CONTINUES: “On the other hand, PO has not fully and not entirely correctly drawn conclusions from PiS's rule. Something from that old, passive, conservative Platforma still lives. Almost everything I heard during the programmatic speeches, I had heard before. The panel discussions were polite, cautious, introverted, the topics generally the same as a decade ago, new challenges rather feigned than addressed. During some discussions, one could get the impression that Platforma reacts to new ideas the same way water reacts to oil – try as you might, but the two do not mix at all.” -- VINTAGE-STYLE ECONOMIC DISCUSSIONS - SAWCZUK CONTINUES IN KL: “This was perhaps best seen in the economic discussions, which fit well with the trend for all things vintage. In a regular rhythm, the note of free-market dogmatism returned: the market is great, politics not so much, indicators have said it all, there's actually nothing to discuss, because numbers don't lie. A true explosion of rationality.” -- IN PLACE OF PLATFORMA, PIS HAS BECOME THE PARTY OF LUKEWARM WATER - SAWCZUK'S CONCLUSION: “Seeking a new identity, Platforma is emerging from a state of culpable immaturity. The party has made a move towards creating a solid, modern conservative-liberal party. However, the ghosts of the past still trouble it. In the meantime, PiS, in place of Donald Tusk's Platforma, is beginning to play the role of the party of the present, the party of lukewarm water in the tap, which has high adaptability but struggles to formulate realistic visions for the future. There is still a lack of a political force capable of telling a story in which the future is so connected to the past that it allows for the creation of a common, diverse world today.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/07/15/konwencja-platformy-szostka-schetyny-kometarz-sawczuk/ -- 15 CRUEL AND BRAZEN PIECES OF ADVICE FROM PiS - selected by Piotr Pacewicz in OKO: “Students from the double cohort can study at home. Protesting doctors - let them go abroad. Pregnant women with damaged fetuses should give birth, after all, we all die eventually. Teachers should work for ideals, like Karczewski, or benefit from 500+, because no one forces them to live in celibacy. PiS politicians offer cruel, brazen advice. We have selected 15.” https://oko.press/pis-dobra-rada-czyli-15-x-mowa-pogardy-niech-jada-pracuj-dla-idei-pokochaj-dziecko-z-gwaltu/ -- MAREK BEYLIN WRITES THAT A SOLO RUN IS A BETRAYAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC CAMP: “According to media reports, some PO politicians do not want a broad coalition because they fear losing seats on the electoral lists to coalition partners. However, if such fears prevail in Platforma, it will prove to be just a party defending the interests of its officials. This would be the greatest of political betrayals. PO would betray its voters and the hopes of the entire democratic camp.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24992494,koalicja-albo-smierc-demokratow-zamiast-szostki-schetyny-musi.html -- TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM OF REVERSING CHANGES INTRODUCED BY PiS: “Grzegorz Schetyna, by promising a "cleaning package after PiS," has entered shaky ground. The knot of the dispute that has been ongoing for four years is so tangled in some places that the opposition, in defense of the constitution, might itself be accused of violating it. Unless it secures a constitutional majority.” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/307149965-Koalicja-Obywatelska-nie-odkreci-zmian-w-sadach---komentuje-Tomasz-Pietryga.html -- RZ PRAISES KO'S PROGRAM - as written by Krzysztof Adam Kowalczyk: “I like the offer to reduce total tax and social security contributions for employees in the lower income bracket without increasing them in the upper bracket. I myself once proposed a similar solution in "Rzeczpospolita." This is also an incentive for full-time employment. It is certainly more effective than sending labor inspectors to companies. A carrot is better than a stick. Lowering the tax wedge is the right direction, because it is a scandal that work in our country is taxed and insured almost as highly as vodka. The 30 billion cost of the reduction causes concern. However, I take the assurances that it will fit within the expenditure rule as a given.” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/190719721-Na-jarkowe-z-Kaczynskim-nie-wygracie.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Monika Krajewska.