-- PiS USES THE HASHTAG HATTRICK KACZYŃSKIEGO ONLINE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/07/pis-uzywa-w-social-media-hashtagu-hattrickkaczynskiego/ -- JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI ON THE GOAL OF BUILDING A WELFARE STATE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/07/kaczynski-musimy-kontynuowac-polityke-ktorej-fundamentem-jest-wiarygodnosc-naszym-celem-jest-budowa-polskiej-wersji-panstwa-dobrobytu/ -- KACZYNSKI ON THE FAMILY MODEL: ONE WOMAN AND ONE MAN: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/07/kaczynski-model-rodziny-jedna-kobieta-jeden-mezczyzna-w-stalym-zwiazku-i-ich-dzieci-jest-atakowany-rodzina-jest-atakowana-w-miazdzacej-wiekszosci-przypadkow-ludzie-rodza-sie-kobi/ -- PJK ON MINIMUM WAGE OF 3000 PLN BY END OF 2020: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/07/kaczynski-na-koniec-2020-roku-minimalna-pensja-bedzie-wynosila-3000-zl-na-koniec-2023-roku-4000-zl/ -- KACZYŃSKI ON TWO THIRTEENTH PENSIONS:https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/07/kaczynski-w-2021-roku-ogromna-wiekszosc-emerytow-otrzyma-druga-trzynastke-czyli-nie-jedna-trzynastke-a-dwie-trzynastki/ -- JAROSŁAW KACZYŃSKI WANTS MORAWIECKI TO REMAIN PRIME MINISTER AFTER THE ELECTIONS - as he says in an interview with Kamil Szewczyk in SE: “No, I am comfortable in the role I hold, which is the party leader. I find myself best here. And I have no ambition to replace Mateusz Morawiecki, because I would like him to continue to be the head of government.” -- MORAWIECKI IS AN EXCELLENT PRIME MINISTER - KACZYŃSKI CONTINUES:“Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki is an excellent prime minister, an exceptionally capable man endowed with incredible physical and mental resilience.” -- PJK TELLS A JOKE ABOUT PMM: “You know, there’s a joke going around our party: what would happen if someone with ugly intentions cut the prime minister’s hand with a razor? Wires! (laughter). Mateusz Morawiecki is doing very well in international relations, and there is no reason to replace him. I am not hunting for any positions. The position of party leader is perfectly sufficient for me; I’ve dreamed of it since my youth, I don't even want to say how young…” -- PJK COMPLIMENTS THE PRIME MINISTER: “Of course, one cannot do everything, unless one is Mateusz Morawiecki (laughter). Although I don’t know if even he could manage, despite how efficient and hardworking he is.” -- KACZYŃSKI ON NOT BEING TOO CONCERNED ABOUT THE RESULT OF HIS RIVALRY WITH KIDAWĄ IN THE CONSTITUENCY: “I’m not particularly worried about it. I am of a certain age, I know this is the final part of my career, and these races are irrelevant from my point of view. I will likely win a mandate (laughter). What matters most to me, however, is the party’s victory. And if I had to choose between a worse party result, even a winning one, and my own, I would choose my worse result without hesitation. My attitude towards Mrs. Kidawa-Błońska's result is one of perfect indifference.” -- LET'S CONTINUE THIS WAY - PJK ON PAD AND PMM: “He is achieving successes that we greatly value. It would be highly imprudent and unwise of us to seek another candidate. It is a brilliant arrangement: we have a president who is doing well, a prime minister who is doing more than well, and let’s continue this way. Oh, and we also have a modest party leader who is somewhere writing answers to letters and correspondence from Poles (laughter).” -- I VALUE ZIOBRO HIGHLY - PJK CONTINUES IN SE: “The composition of the government is a political matter. We are in a coalition, United Right is a cohesive coalition, but it is not a mere fiction. We must naturally take our coalition partners and their point of view into account. But I want to say one thing – I value Zbigniew Ziobro very highly.” -- I AM NOT AN EARLY BIRD - PJK CONTINUES IN SE: “I have devoted my life to politics. I am not an early bird, because I arrive at the office much later than Ms. Director Barbara Skrzypek, but I deal with state and party matters almost non-stop. Sometimes I return home very late, sometimes well after midnight, occasionally long after midnight. When there is a campaign, I travel extensively around Poland. When there isn't, I also travel, but less.” -- PJK ON BARBARA SKRZYPEK: “The biggest work, when it comes to preparing all these intervention letters and correspondence, is done by Barbara Skrzypek. She reads them, checks if there are any errors. Ms. Director comes to work at 7 a.m., leaves after 6 p.m., and always takes papers home with her, where she often works. She is an extremely important person in the party, extremely hardworking, and efficient. She is responsible for the fundamental aspects of PiS’s functioning, statutory matters, meetings of authorities, etc.” -- KACZYŃSKI SPEAKS ABOUT READING MATERIAL: “Unfortunately, very rarely, although I try. I recently read an excellent book, 'On History, Not for Idiots,' written by the respected historian Andrzej Nowak. I'm saving reading fiction, novels, for retirement (laughter). I know I have backlog of reading, but if God allows me to live a little longer, perhaps I will catch up.” https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/kaczynski-zdradza-kto-zostanie-premierem-tylko-u-nas-wywiad-aa-Xw8k-QKVq-9DW2.html -- THERE WILL BE HIGHER TAXES - PIOTR MĄCZYŃSKI IN GW AFTER THE PiS CONVENTION: “Of course, the government can borrow money. This is a kind of consuming the good economic climate. However, these loans are not enough. Not much more can be squeezed from VAT and other taxes. Therefore, there will be new taxes. The PiS government has a lot of imagination when it comes to introducing them. However, taxes and contributions paid by people with relatively high incomes will increase the most.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,155290,25164986,program-pis-oznacza-wzrost-podatkow-zwolnienia-i-inflacje.html -- PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI ON THE NEED FOR COLLECTIVE THERAPY - he writes in RZ: “When we stop using a common language, divisions deepen, and the community begins to fall apart. Perhaps next year, when the marathon of local, parliamentary, and presidential elections in Poland finally concludes, there will be space for collective self-therapy, which will allow us to find a minimum of empathy for our opponents? (...) In late spring 2020, with the presidential elections, the electoral marathon that has been ongoing since the 2018 local elections will end. We will have over a three-year break in political battles, the longest in many years – the next elections, local and parliamentary, will not come until autumn 2023. Perhaps then, in Poland too, there will be space for such collective self-therapy, which will allow us to find a common language and a minimum of empathy for the positions presented by our opponents? Without this, sooner or later, which party we vote for and which television we watch will begin to determine whether we drink tap water.” -- ANECDOTE ABOUT DRINKING TAP WATER AS - IN TRUDNOWSKI'S OPINION - A PORTRAIT OF POLISH POLITICS: “The most characteristic is one scene. During a session of the Warsaw City Council, representatives of the capital's opposition warn against drinking tap water. Council members of the ruling camp in Warsaw ostentatiously drink it and rail against spreading panic. And what are you, dear voter, supposed to believe?” -- EVERYTHING IS ALREADY A FIELD OF POLARIZATION - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “This is already our daily bread. Almost everything that happens in the public sphere quickly becomes a field of polarization, sharp accusations against political opponents, or decisive judgments made with conviction bordering on certainty. Even though public opinion is often stirred by topics on which it is difficult to make a judgment without specialized knowledge. Take the last few weeks – fires in the Amazon, suicide in a cell, vegetable prices, the announcement of passing a deficit-free budget… None of us has the intellectual competence to assess each of these diverse matters with unwavering certainty, yet almost every one of us has an opinion, often quite radical. Although we forget about most of the topics that ignite debate within a week, the level of unleashed emotions seems to be higher from month to month, year to year, campaign to campaign.” -- TRUDNOWSKI ON THE TRAP OF INFORMATIONAL FOMO: “The speed of online discussions on burning issues, which, moreover, become outdated from day to day, does not allow us to apply rational assessment frameworks to each topic. Not wanting to fall out of the information and opinion loop – after all, another phenomenon of our era called FOMO, i.e., 'fear of missing out,' does not allow us to do so – we fall into this trap deeper and deeper.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/190909533-Liberalowie-konserwatysci-pomieszanie-jezykow.html -- PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME A PIS SUPPORTER - ADRIAN ZANDBERG IN AN INTERVIEW WITH PIOTR WITWICKI IN RZ: “I kindly ask you not to make me a PiS supporter. I can argue, but I don’t despise people.” -- I WON'T PRETEND WE ARE IDENTICAL - ZANDBERG ON THE UNITED LEFT LISTS: “I won’t pretend that we are identical, because that would be ridiculous. On the United Left lists, there are people from different parties, with different experiences, from different generations. But none of us wants to be played by the right. Today, Civic Platform can no longer say: 'If not us, then PiS.' We are going into the elections with a strong list, with a pro-social program, and we have over ten percent support. We have this support also because we say that the future is more important to us than history from 20 years ago.” -- THE RULES OF THE GAME NEED TO BE CHANGED - ZANDBERG CONTINUES: “That's the only reason it's worth getting involved. We want to change the rules of the game – in the housing market, in drug policy, in the labor market. Is this anti-system? I don't know, that word means little. The electoral system itself certainly needs to be de-betonized – the electoral law and the law on political parties should be changed.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/190909529-Adrian-Zandberg-Zrobilismy-z-partii-jogurt.html -- I CRIED - ALEKSANDRA DULKIEWICZ IN AN INTERVIEW WITH KATARZYNA WŁODKOWSKA IN GW: “It was a moment when I weakened. I came home that evening, sat on the couch, and cried. For the first time, I thought: 'Are there any limits?' Then Zosia asked what was wrong: 'Mommy, are you crying because I didn't wash the dishes?' She burst the balloon, but the night was difficult. Many advised me to give up, that the court case would last for years. In the morning, I decided I wouldn't listen to them.” -- I WILL MEET THEM IN COURT - DULKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “To this day, I blame myself for not reacting in a similar way when politicians and so-called right-wing media slandered President Adamowicz. We thought that was the climate, a politician must have thick skin, freedom of speech. A mistake. Freedom of speech does not mean that. I don’t know if a decisive reaction to lies and manipulation would have changed the course of events, but at least we wouldn’t be asking ourselves so many questions today. That’s why I will meet in court with anyone who violates my rights, the rights of my family, or the rights of the city of Gdańsk. Wyszkowski was the culmination.” -- “ABOUT THE GERMANS FROM GDAŃSK” - DULKIEWICZ ON THE HATE TOWARDS GDANSK RESIDENTS: “For some time now, according to pro-government media, Gdańsk has been 'Danzig.' Almost every day someone writes to me or comes up to me and says they just returned from southern Poland, where as soon as they got out of the car, they heard: 'Oh, Germans from Gdańsk.'” http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25166412,dulkiewicz-codziennie-czytam-na-twitterze-hej-frau.html -- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON ZIOBRO AND KACZYŃSKI - she writes in GW: “It is not true that Kaczyński keeps Ziobro in office because he has compromising material on the leader. Politically, Ziobro is very weakened. He cannot afford to clash with Kaczyński. Although he does allow himself (or rather, the leader allows him) – to play games with Morawiecki. For example, he holds the prime minister hostage with an investigation into foreign currency loans granted, among others, by BZ WBK at a time when Morawiecki managed the bank. But even in this matter, nothing will happen without a green light from the PiS leader.” http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25164986,to-nieprawda-ze-ziobro-ma-haki-na-kaczynskiego-prezes-go.html -- POLAND DESERVES A BETTER OPPOSITION, SUCH TALK WITH POLES IS A MOCKERY - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “I watched the Civic Coalition convention with growing embarrassment. It looked as if they had stolen a script for Marcin Wolski's New Year's pantomime – caricatured, typical of a satirical drawing, exaggerated, gags mixed with applause signaled from backstage, a complete lack of responsibility for words and deeds – including their own from the past. (...) Poles deserve a better opposition than a total one for four years, and now suddenly a smiling one for a moment, Platform/Civic Coalition. I still believe that tomorrow will be better for the opposition, and consequently, for Poland. Because the quality of the opposition is also part of the quality of our state.” -- UNPROFESSIONAL, UNRELIABLE - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “It doesn’t make much sense to dwell on specific proposals – no one will give us a guarantee that they will remember them themselves tomorrow. Because if Grzegorz Schetyna could forget the content of his own (supposedly fundamental) 'six points,' and the leading candidates (Poncyljusz, Zimoch) don't feel obliged to know them, it means they have no value even for the authors. It was similar now – when Mrs. Kidawa-Błońska finally got the alleged program in her hands, she still – just like that – added a few extra proposals. So, excuse me – why write the previous one if you can just add a few extra points? Who calculated this and when? Who worked it out? Unprofessional. Unreliable.” -- KARNOWSKI ON RUSSIAN POLITICAL-TECHNOLOGICAL METHODS AND "TEFAUENY": “But the saddest thing, as I perceive it, is the belief, originating from Russian political-technological methods, that reality in politics does not matter. Only the spectacle and media advantage count. Anything can be conjured up, any issue can be promised. And the worst trait: the belief that, having the TeFaUen (TVN) on your side, you don't need to seriously confront your own achievements, your past. In this case, eight years of PO-PSL rule. What went wrong? How do these people differ from those rulers today? Silence. No answers.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/462687-polacy-zasluguja-na-lepsza-opozycje-niz-platforma -- ALL POWER TO KIDAWY-BŁOŃSKA - PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “It concerns the announcement that after a possible electoral success, meaning the opposition obtains a majority in the Sejm, Kidawa-Błońska's candidacy will be put forward for the leadership of the party. The vision of a prime minister more or less controlled from a political headquarters is a forecast of electoral defeat.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25166755,cala-wladza-w-rece-kidawy-blonskiej.html -- KO WASTED AN OPPORTUNITY - ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ ON GAZETA.PL: “After the bold move of making Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska the face of the campaign, Civic Coalition could have extended its good run by skillfully entering the most important stage of the electoral race with its program. To its misfortune, it wasted a convenient opportunity.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25166412,z-duzej-chmury-maly-deszcz-koalicja-obywatelska-zapewnia-ze.html -- SCHETYNA FINALLY UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING THAT WAS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE - JAKUB MAJMUREK: “What do these changes mean? Maliciously, one could comment that after two lost elections and an expensive consultation with foreign political marketing experts, Grzegorz Schetyna has finally understood something that has long been obvious to any moderately attentive observer of Polish politics: that people simply do not like him and do not want him as the leader of the largest opposition party. Suffice it to say that in a poll conducted after the affair with Marek Kuchciński's flights, Schetyna enjoyed less trust from Poles than the Marshal of the Sejm, who was leaving office in disgrace. Even among opposition voters, it would be difficult to find someone who would say with full conviction: Schetyna is the best leader we could wish for. The opposition electorate will therefore welcome this reshuffle with relief. But to what extent will it change the situation on the political chessboard? Will it save the opposition from the prospect of PiS's second term?” -- A GOOD MOVE IN A TRULY BAD SITUATION - MAJMUREK CONTINUES: “However, it must be remembered that putting forward Kidawa-Błońska resembles a good move that a player makes when their situation on the chessboard is already truly bad – and it cannot necessarily be improved by a single, even the most brilliant, move. Grzegorz Schetyna's weak leadership is just one of many problems for PO-KO in this campaign – changing the face of the coalition may not be enough to engage in an equal fight with the opponent.” -- WHY CHANGE WHEN PEOPLE ARE BETTER OFF? - MAJMUREK ON THE SITUATION OF PiS: “We still don’t really know what – apart from removing PiS from power – the main opposition bloc wants. Many voters fear that a change of government will take away social benefits – 500+, early retirement – that the last four years have brought. PiS, on the other hand, has powerful strategic electoral reserves, not only in the form of social transfers but also a great economic climate – in democracies, parties in power during a period of significant societal enrichment rarely lose the fight for re-election. When everyone has fuller wallets, and the government hasn't yet managed to tire people out, why change anything?” https://www.tvn24.pl/magazyn-tvn24/dobra-zmiana-w-zlej-sytuacji-czy-roszada-schetyny-zaszachuje-kaczynskiego,233,4005 -- KIDAWA SHOWED SPONTANEITY - AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK IN OKO: “Similarly, the entire speech: it might have looked like Kidawa-Błońska was nervous or unprepared, and therefore unprofessional. Paradoxically, the effect of these mistakes might turn out to be positive, however. Kidawa-Błońska, who has the image of a 'lady,' showed spontaneity. She dealt with her own mistakes with a smile.” -- KIDAWA'S ADVANTAGE IS THAT SHE IS NOT A CYBORG LIKE MORAWIECKI - SZCZĘŚNIAK CONTINUES: “Her advantage might be that she is completely different from Mateusz Morawiecki: a prime minister-cyborg, who until recently recited his speeches (this is slowly changing). Attempts to overcome the nervousness that accompanies the new role can be perceived as Kidawa's fighting spirit and bring her support from female voters. We usually root for those who try.” https://oko.press/usmiechnieta-polska-kidawy-blonskiej-koalicja-obywatelska-zaczela-sluchac-swoich-wyborcow/ -- I HAVE NO IDEA HOW KO WANTS TO WIN - AGNIESZKA WIŚNIEWSKA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA PORTAL: “Friday's convention exposed Civic Coalition's shortcomings. Those gathered in front of the stage chanted 'We will win, we will win!' Honestly speaking, I have no idea how KO intends to win with this program and these people.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/wisniewska-konwencja-koalicji-obywatelskiej/ -- PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI ON SCHETYNA DEMOBILIZING VOTERS: “Grzegorz Schetyna is aware that as the leader of the opposition, he does not enjoy high trust even within his own electorate. The nomination of a different prime ministerial candidate by the leader of Civic Platform than himself had to happen sooner or later. If such a decision had been made before the European Parliament elections, the dynamics of this election year could have been completely different. United opposition under Grzegorz Schetyna's leadership demobilized many Poles. Within the Platform's electorate, the feeling grew that despite being staunch opponents of Law and Justice, they did not find someone in the opposition who inspired confidence.” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2019/09/05/trudnowski-koalicja-obywatelska-musiala-wystawic-innego-kandydata/ -- ABOUT HELICOPTERS IN HUWNIKI AND KUCHCIŃSKI - report in the Podkarpacie GW: “– Helicopters fly very often. We got used to it, we don’t pay attention to them anymore, although at first the noise was very bothersome. Children woke up – say the residents of houses standing closest to the guardhouse. This is a new housing estate at the crossroads, built on former state farm fields. Nice houses with well-kept gardens stand along three parallel streets.” http://rzeszow.wyborcza.pl/rzeszow/7,34962,25166332,dlaczego-marek-kuchcinski-czesto-ladowal-w-huwnikach-helikoptery.html -- BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE GOVERNMENT CHANGE IN ITALY - Andrzej Kohut on the Klub Jagielloński portal: "Referring to terminology from the world of gambling, one can say that Mateo Salvini aimed very high and spectacularly lost. The stake in Salvini's political game was victory in early elections and a coalition government in which he would call the shots. According to a recording of a conversation published by BuzzFeed, Salvini's party may have been financed by the Kremlin.” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2019/09/06/salvini-przelicytowal-kulisy-zmiany-rzadu-we-wloszech/ -- BIRTHDAYS: SUNDAY: Roch Kowalski, Zofia Wojtkowska, Katarzyna Klaus, Ewa Żmuda-Trzebiatowska.