-- EXACTLY ONE MONTH BEFORE THE ELECTIONS, THE PIS CHAIRMAN AND PRIME MINISTER WILL MEET WITH REGIONAL CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS FOR A MOBILIZATION EVENT: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/13/szefernaker-jest-rowno-miesiac-do-wyborow-dzis-wieczorem-w-warszawie-odbedzie-sie-duze-spotkanie-zp-przedstawicielami-sztabow-przyjedzie-kilkaset-osob-z-calej-polski-bedzie-wystapienie-pjk/ -- THE LEFT EMBARKS ON A TOUR - REPORT ON 300POLITYCE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/13/ -- MORAWIECKI IS BUILDING A NEW MIDDLE CLASS AND FIGHTING FOR A DECADE FOR PIS - CAMPAIGN IMAGES ON 300POLITYCE: https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/09/13/morawiecki-buduje-nowa-klase-srednia-i-walczy-dla-pis-o-dekade-obrazki-z-kampanii/ -- THE OMBUDSMAN AT NIGHT IN AN EMPTY SEJM - headline in GW. -- AN EMPTY CHAMBER - IT LOOKED QUITE PATHETIC - EWA ŁĘTOWSKA FOR OKO: “I watched fragments of the Sejm broadcast on television, when at night the Ombudsman, Dr. hab. Adam Bodnar, presented his report on his activities in 2018. The chamber was empty, apart from a small group of MPs delegated by the ruling party and a few individuals delegated by opposition parties. It looked quite pathetic.” -- IT REMINDED ME OF AN ARIA FROM VERDI'S TROUBADOUR - A QUIET, CALM NIGHT - ŁĘTOWSKA CONTINUES: “My first reflection will be personal. As the Ombudsman from 1988 to 1992, in March 1992, I presented my report to the Sejm for the last year, and at the same time for my entire term as ombudsman. There were more people in the chamber than on Wednesday, but only because my report was interrupted by the election of Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz as President of the National Bank of Poland, which engaged the MPs. Other votes were also taking place, so I reported somewhat incidentally. The chamber was exceptionally hostile towards me. I won't measure the temperature of emotions, as it would be difficult to compete with the attacks on Adam Bodnar. At one point, I was showered with a gracious epithet from the Sejm tribune: ‘Łętowska, a Nazi murderer of innocent children.’ And as I looked at the empty Sejm chamber and Adam Bodnar speaking at night in complete silence, the sight was so sad… as an opera lover, I was reminded of an aria from Verdi's 'Troubadour,' ‘Tacea la notte placida’ (A quiet, calm night). And I also thought, ‘O, rimembranza!’ (Oh, memories!) – that’s from Bellini's 'Norma.'” -- IT IS AN INSULT TO PARLIAMENTARISM - ŁĘTOWSKA CONTINUES: “The comments that followed this night scene in the media state that it is a disrespect (insult) to the Ombudsman, and that he did not deserve it. He did not deserve it, that is clear. But I think it is primarily a disrespect to our democracy, an insult to our parliamentarism. I mean the emptiness in the chamber, not only in the seats of the ruling party, but also in the seats of all those who should listen and understand what the Ombudsman is saying and why.” https://oko.press/letowska-pusta-sala-w-sejmie-nie-obraza-rpo-to-obraza-dla-naszej-demokracji-dla-parlamentaryzmu/ -- GW ON THE FRONT PAGE ABOUT THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES CREATION OF THE PIS PROGRAM - as Agata Kondzińska writes: “All these proposals were prepared in the utmost secrecy. According to our interlocutors, they were worked on by: Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Gliński, who heads the PiS program council, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and party leader Jarosław Kaczyński. He, as is tradition, knitted it all together, with someone for text editing by his side. Allied parties – Jarosław Gowin's Porozumienie and Zbigniew Ziobro's Solidarna Polska – could submit their proposals. But Ziobro and Gowin only learned about PiS's program offer just before the convention in Lublin last Saturday. Even people from the campaign staff only knew the slogans; only the head of the election campaign, Joachim Brudziński, and former Prime Minister Beata Szydło had full knowledge. (...) The party also did not present calculations on how the implementation of the hat-trick would burden the state budget. – Such a decision was made in the election headquarters that the details would be presented at regional conventions. Firstly, to maintain interest, and secondly, to refine them – says a PiS activist. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25186118,tajemniczy-hat-trick-kaczynskiego-jak-powstawal-program-wyborczy.html -- WITHOUT THE MEDIA, PO WOULD BE FIGHTING TO CROSS 10% - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “In sum, it appears that the opposition campaign staff carried out a very serious political maneuver completely 'wildly.' They prepared nothing, planned nothing, and did not even ensure decent PR or socio-technical support. Who knows, maybe they didn't even test this candidacy? The conclusion from this operation is one: if not for the powerful media shield, if not for the support of the major media, which effectively substitute for the campaign staff, the current Civic Platform would be fighting for a double-digit result today.” -- NOTHING HAPPENED - JACEK KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “Tomorrow marks 10 days since Grzegorz Schetyna decided to step back and name Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska as a candidate for Prime Minister. 10 days is a very long time, especially one month before the elections. A lot can happen, especially since during the campaign, even indifferent voters tend to lend an ear. This time, however, nothing happened. Literally nothing. Of course, sympathetic profiles of the new face of the Civic Coalition appeared in left-wing weeklies, her nice family traditions were recalled, one clumsy convention was organized, and she was sent around the country. A few gaffes were caught, a few platitudes were quoted, and that's it.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/463605-gdyby-nie-media-po-walczylaby-dzis-o-przekroczenie-10-proc -- MONIKA OLEJNIK ON PIS DIVORCES - writes in GW: “I watch with pleasure the faces of PiS divorcées, who explain the party leader's words about stable relationships between a man and a woman, looking directly into the camera. So what? Anything goes. You can suspend the Sejm because the government wants it, and only open the session after the elections.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25184816,co-dobry-polak-wiedziec-powinien.html -- PART OF PIS IS CONSTANTLY RADICALIZING - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Four years after PiS's victory, a part of it is constantly radicalizing. A PiS councilor from Szczecin organized an action to disinfect the city after the Pride parade, directly referring to the rhetoric of the 1930s, when homosexuality was something to be eradicated. It is easy to hide behind the fight for freedom of speech when further boundaries of good taste are being crossed. Rafał Ziemkiewicz expressed surprise on Twitter that an pro-abortion activist was protesting outside Jarosław Kaczyński's house against plans to ban eugenic abortion, even though 'she herself is deformed, yet her mother gave birth to her.' Now a court has ordered him to apologize, which the publicist considered an attack on freedom of speech.” -- HAS INSULTING BECOME THE OFFICIAL DOCTRINE OF THE RIGHT? - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “Has the race for radicalism and insulting the other side become the official doctrine of the right today? It is increasingly difficult to defend the freedom of speech of colleagues from the right when they abandon basic human decency and Christian charity. Are we truly doomed to an alternative: either the right insulting minorities, or an increasingly radical and aggressive rainbow side attacking religious symbols?” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/190919727-Szuldrzynski-Miedzy-teczowa-poprawnoscia-a-zdziczeniem-prawicy.html -- ZIOBRO SYSTEMATICALLY WEAKENS HIS POSITION, THE MISTAKE-AVOIDING PRIME MINISTER GROWS STRONGER - TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ: “If it was thought that Ziobro could be a rival to Mateusz Morawiecki in the struggle for Jarosław Kaczyński's succession, then the minister is systematically weakening his own position with his actions. Meanwhile, the mistake-avoididing Prime Minister is growing stronger. However, it seems that Zbigniew Ziobro will remain a minister if PiS wins the elections. His stance is an emanation of the feelings of the hard right electorate towards the judiciary. And most importantly, the PiS chairman thinks similarly.” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/309129942-Prezes-PiS-mysli-podobnie----Tomasz-Pietryga-komentuje-odrzucenie-wotum-nieufnosci-wobec-Ziobry.html -- LEFT, DON'T FANTASIZE THAT PLATFORM WILL COLLAPSE ON ITS OWN ANY MOMENT - AGNIESZKA WIŚNIEWSKA, editor-in-chief of KrytykaPolityczna.pl: “PO has structures, money. And the support for Kidawa-Błońska is considerable. In recent days, polls have shown that she is well-received, and many would see her as Prime Minister.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/felietony/agnieszka-wisniewska/lewico-nie-fantazjuj-ze-platforma-za-moment-sama-sie-zapadnie/ -- THEN LET SASIN MAKE HIS PHONE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION - JAKUB BODZIONY IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “If Jacek Sasin and his political colleagues truly believe that honest people should disclose their private data to the authorities, then I appeal for them to make all photos and messages from their phones available for public inspection. I understand that since they require a similar attitude from the rest of the citizens, they will demonstrate an appropriate, exemplary stance. Deputy Prime Minister Sasin's words also shed an interesting light on another matter. How else to explain the fact that the support lists for candidates to the National Council of the Judiciary remain classified, despite a court ruling ordering their disclosure? After all, honest people have nothing to hide.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/09/12/pegazus-cba-jacek-sasin-bodziony-felieton/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Michał Majewski, Janusz Tomaszewski, Jarosław Wałęsa, Czesław Okińczyc.