-- GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON AND HEAD OF THE CHANCELLERY ON ENTREPRENEURS NOT PAYING HIGHER SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/20 -- PM ON SILESIA IN THE FRONT PAGE OF DZIENNIK ZACHODNI: “Silesia is important not because I am running as Prime Minister from this region, but because it is a key region for the development of the entire Poland – not just in the perspective of the next term, but for decades. Any responsible government should be aware of this. Investments in Upper Silesia should not be viewed as electoral gifts, but as strategic moves important from the perspective of the development of the whole country.” https://plus.dziennikzachodni.pl/rozmowa-dz-premier-mateusz-morawiecki-chce-byc-ze-slaskiem-w-czasie-transformacji/ar/c1-14435285 -- THE OPPOSITION CAMP ISN'T GAINING ANYTHING - ANDRZEJ MACHOWSKI ANALYZES IN GW: “The Polish People's Party (PSL) is fighting for the electorate with the right, and Civic Coalition (KO) can gain the undecided. Meanwhile, the left can take voters from Civic Coalition, but it gains almost nothing for the entire democratic opposition camp.” -- MACHOWSKI ON A SCENARIO OF 235 MANDATES FOR THE OPPOSITION: “These small gains are worth fighting for. Because if on October 13th, Civic Coalition obtained 29% (a 1.5 percentage point increase compared to the averaged results from August and early September), the Left – 14% (a 1.9 percentage point increase), PSL – 8% (a 1.4 percentage point increase), and PiS – 42% (a 1.9 percentage point decrease), then the opposition would gain a total of 235 mandates (PiS – 224) and take power. The poll published on Thursday, September 19th, after this analysis was prepared, confirms the conclusions regarding possible voter flows. The increase in KO's ratings (compared to the average support in the first six days of September analyzed) by 3.9 percentage points (Krzysztof Kidawa-Błoński's effect?) corresponds to a decrease in the Left's ratings (-2.3 percentage points), and the decrease in PSL's ratings (-2.2 percentage points) correlates with an increase in Confederation's ratings (+1.4 percentage points) and higher support for KO.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25208087,wiesci-z-frontu-czyli-co-mowia-sondaze.html -- IT'S NOT VERY CLEAR WHY NEW PiS VOTERS WOULD BE SEDUCED BY THE OPPOSITION NOW - PROF. PIOTR RADKIEWICZ in an interview with Łukasz Rogojsz in Gazeta.pl: “Do you remember the prototype PiS voter I mentioned earlier? This is, of course, the toughest and most loyal electorate of this party. The so-called identity electorate, which has always given PiS about 25% of the votes. Now PiS has almost twice that in the polls. Today, these are not exclusively prototype voters, but a complex conglomerate of views, interests, and attitudes. These people have joined the identity electorate, but they don't have the same, ethos-driven DNA. However, it's not very clear why they would be seduced by the opposition now and abandon PiS. The battle is for those 10-12% of voters who have not yet decided or are wavering.” -- PROF. RADKIEWICZ ON THE POWER OF PiS'S MAGICAL PERSUASION ELEMENT: “PiS has denied the entire previous doctrine of financial discipline, savings, deficit reduction, attracting Western capital through low labor costs, etc. After 25 years of such rhetoric, people have the right to see the ruling party as inventors of a peculiar financial perpetual motion machine, because it's easy to get the impression that the more money from the budget goes to social purposes, the more of it returns to the budget. We probably underestimate the persuasive power of this magical element. And for the biggest skeptics, we now have a supremely magical announcement – a budget for 2020 with a zero deficit.” -- THE OPPOSITION HAS OBEDIENTLY PROVIDED PRETEXTS FOR A CULTURE WAR - PROF. RADKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “I don't think so. In my opinion, we are reaching the aforementioned ill-considered moves of the opposition. The chronology of events shows that this is primarily the effect of a culture war, which, although heated to absurd proportions by the ruling camp, found obedient pretexts from the opposition. I mean this whole sequence of events that began with President Trzaskowski signing the LGBT+ charter, then Vice-President Rabiej's statement about adoption by same-sex couples, and finally the huge uproar around pedophilia in the Church, inspired by the Sekielski brothers' film.” -- RADKIEWICZ ON THE OPPOSITION'S MISTAKE: “I will stick to my guns; opening this front in such a way in a year of double elections was incomprehensible to me from the beginning. As is often said in such situations: 'It was worse than a crime, it was a mistake.'” -- THE "NORMALS" DECIDE PIIS'S STRENGTH - PROF. RADKIEWICZ CONTINUES IN CONVERSATION WITH ROGOSZ: “Identity-based – yes. Then it's in its element. But the pragmatic voter, who can withdraw their support, no. This voter feels valued today, appreciates peace, wants to enjoy the time of prosperity and make up for lost time in terms of consumption. The "normals" decide PiS's current strength. This is bad news for the opposition, but perhaps not the worst for those who fear further escalation of the so-called Polish-Polish war.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25210847,o-dzisiejszej-sile-pis-u-decyduja-tzw-normalsi-to-kiepska.html -- THE GDYNIA FESTIVAL PROVES THAT STATE CULTURAL POLICY IS NOT A FAILURE - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: “At the same time, this festival reminds us that the cultural policy of the Polish state is not a failure, as propagandists associated with the current opposition claim. Almost all of the titles presented in the main competition (17 out of 18) were co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. Contrary to the warnings of artists unfavorable to the current government, it has not become a tool for any intrusive policy of promoting or combating anyone under Radosław Śmigulski.” -- SUPPORT FOR HOLLAND IS NORMALCY, AND THEY TRY TO CONVINCE US IT DOESN'T EXIST - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “The festival began with the screening of Agnieszka Holland's film 'Mr. Jones,' recalling the reprehensible cynicism of the West towards Soviet crimes, specifically the Holodomor in Ukraine. The director, with this excellent historical image, accompanied it at the opening gala with anti-government allusions. The fact that she uses the support of a public institution, which is not strictly governmental, is of course just normalcy. But sometimes they try to convince us that this normalcy does not exist in Poland.” -- THERE WAS NO EFFORT TO CREATE CINEMA OF THE RIGHT, REALITY IS NOT BLACK AND WHITE - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “There was no effort to create cinema of the right (and it's not very clear who would make it). Outstanding and good creators were simply supported. Within TVP itself, political propaganda coexisted with an attempt to rebuild more ambitious television film. The reality was not and is not black and white.” -- GLINSKI IS NOT A TORTURER OF CULTURE, BUT HE DEFENDS PFN AS HIS CHILD UNTHINKINGLY - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: "Minister Piotr Gliński, who is not a torturer of Polish culture at all, and has done something good for it in many areas (the law on incentives in the film industry, facilitating co-productions, is one example), defends the foundation as his child rather unthinkingly. Using the classic argument that Onet wishes no good to the Polish state. The only thing is that Onet is already controlled by Americans. One cannot use anti-German slogans against it.” -- THE ARROGANCE OF THE RIGHT-WING GOVERNMENT IS MET WITH THE HYPERSENSITIVITY OF ARTISTS, AND THE VICIOUS CYCLE CONTINUES - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “Of course, this is unlikely. Filmmakers cannot do without money, the dispenser of which is partly the government. And PiS will probably win the elections without the sympathy and help of artists. Nevertheless, these conflicts are completely unnecessary and avoidable from the perspective of creating a national culture, a common culture, let's repeat. The arrogance of various representatives of the right-wing government is met with the sensitivity, and sometimes hypersensitivity, of artists. The vicious cycle continues.” https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-o-filmie-solid-gold-i-fpff-polityka-widziana-z-festiwalowej-gdyni/ar/c15-14436495 -- IT WAS ABOUT A SIMPLE ASSOCIATION; UNTIL THEY BREAK WITH THESE BEHAVIORS, THERE IS NO QUESTION OF A BROADER MENTAL OPENING TO PROVINCIAL POLAND, AND THIS IS THE KEY TO REMOVING PIS - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “And here we come to the political dimension of this kind of story. Let's not pretend to be Greek, that the implication is or was intended to be different: it was about a simple association, that we, on the liberal-left, democratic side, know what is at stake in these elections. And that we know who needs to be stopped, even if it wasn't said directly. Such clips and performances as Mr. Pszoniak's, supported by the admiration of TVN or Tomasz Lis, are just further evidence of the fatal infatuation of parts of the (political) opposition circles with celebrities and radicals who feel perfectly at home in their insulated bubbles of conviction about the righteousness of their beliefs and the necessity of fighting fascists for democracy. As long as politicians do not unequivocally break with such behaviors, there is no question of any broader – even on a mental level – opening up to provincial Poland and its voters. And this, after all, is the key to removing PiS from power.” -- FIJOŁEK ON THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE'S SUPPORT FOR AN INTERNET TROLL: “It's also not the case that the right in Poland is free from this kind of lack of self-preservation instinct. Campaign support from the Minister of Justice for a common internet troll (who recently demanded the streets be cleared of LGBT people, it's a shame to promote this gentleman's name) or the unsparing verbal attacks (in the Sejm, like MP Pawłowicz's words about "sexually ill") on the aforementioned Bodnar (whose activities I myself assess critically, below is an interview which I recommend) should also not take place, because – to put it mildly – they do not contribute to even an elementary level of building a common public space. Campaign fever is one thing, but I have the impression that a cold shower before entering a studio, parliament, or even before logging into Twitter, would be beneficial for many politicians and publicists, regardless of their affiliations and sympathies. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464527-spoty-pszoniaka-et-consortes-maja-przynajmniej-dwa-wymiary -- DID MATECKI WORK IN THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OR NOT? - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “And 'the cavalry' came to the rescue in the person of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro. A video with his support is dominating the social media of the right-wing influencer. – He is an excellent lawyer – declares Ziobro. – He was my close associate in the Ministry of Justice. This is surprising. During the local government campaign, then Deputy Minister of Justice Patryk Jaki, categorically denied that Matecki worked in the Ministry of Justice. And here the matter becomes serious. Because if Matecki, with his practically professional presence on social media, was Ziobro's "close associate," then how does the minister intend to convince public opinion that he had no idea about the hate speech in his ministry and the actions of the Piebiak group?” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/309199886-Minister-popiera-krola-skrajnie-prawicowego-internetu.html -- IT CANNOT BE RULED OUT THAT PIS WILL NOT GOVERN - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “PiS appears Teflon-coated against scandals, but PO was like that until a certain point. And several skeletons may fall out of PiS's closet before the elections. Strikes may occur. In the coming days, the opposition intends to fight tooth and nail to prevent Jarosław Kaczyński's people from retaining power. PiS is tripping itself up by making campaign mistakes, scaring entrepreneurs, media, artists, neglecting healthcare, and going to war with teachers. President Kaczyński did not mince words when he announced a second Budapest or a second Turkey in Poland. Today, the government approaches optimistic polls with caution, remembering that Bronisław Komorowski was also expected to be re-elected according to pre-election surveys. Anything can still happen before the elections. The cards seem to be dealt, but no scenario can be ruled out.” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/309199896-Nizinkiewicz-PiS-moze-wygrac-ale-nie-musi-rzadzic.html -- 500 PLUS WAS A HUMILIATION FOR THEM, LET'S NOT HAVE ANY ILLUSIONS - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “most importantly, and what this and other broadcasts prove: because it was a humiliation for them. The success of the first version of the 500 Plus program, the success of its expansion, other successful social programs, in total hundreds of billions of zlotys directed to groups that had previously benefited the least from economic growth, are a disgrace to the previous rulers. And they will not forgive Jarosław Kaczyński's camp for this. That's why as soon as they can, they will take it all back, under any pretext. Let's have no illusions. They would prefer to give to thieves than to Poles.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464637-nie-mam-zludzen-wszystko-co-dane-zostaloby-zabrane -- Anniversary of the death of Krystyna Grzybowska. -- BIRTHDAYS: Krzysztof Sobolewski, Jacek Soska, Jan Kanthak, Agata Buzek, Marcin Anaszewicz, Grzegorz Kurczuk, Jarosław Zieliński, Paweł Lisicki.