-- RUMORS OF A POSSIBLE PRESS CONFERENCE BY TUSK FOR POLISH JOURNALISTS IN BRUSSELS AROUND 6 PM. -- CJEU RULING ON THE JUDICIARY ACT - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/11/05/ -- HE WANTED TO HAVE ITALY IN ITALY - Kacper Sulowski, Michał Wojtczuk in Stołeczna: “In the city hall, he set up a summer terrace with awnings, had a court photographer and a Lamborghini, liked fashionable suits and Italian shoes. He was friends with Warsaw's PO barons, handled affairs in various districts of Warsaw. Caught by the CBA – he cried.” -- GAZETA WYBORCZA ON ARTUR W.'S CONNECTION TO SOSZYŃSKI: “W.'s political career began in 2011, when at the age of 35 he became the head of the state-owned company Naftor. He had no prior connections to the fuel industry; he was delegated there by Civic Platform. Robert Soszyński, the current deputy mayor of Warsaw, was then on the company's supervisory board.” https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,25377390,letni-taras-z-markizami-nadworny-fotograf-i-lamborghini-jak.html -- KRZYSZTOF SOBOLEWSKI ON PIS COUNTING ON 52 VOTES IN THE SENATE - in an interview with Grzegorz Osiecki and Tomasz Żółciak in DGP: “We will certainly nominate Marshal Karczewski as a candidate. Who the opposition will nominate, we don't know today. Will it be two, three? Or will those they don't nominate vote for those they do? There are many uncertain things here. We are certain of 48 votes and hope for a minimum of 50 votes, and with good wind even 52 votes.” -- IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM IN OPPOSITION - SOBOLEWSKI CONTINUES: “The message is simple – if someone has made a promise to voters and wants to fulfill it, they won't do it in opposition. Everyone represents a region, they can fulfill individual promises.” -- THE OPPOSITION IS ALSO TALKING TO OUR SENATORS - SOBOLEWSKI CONTINUES: “If someone is afraid of that, it means they are not suited for politics. From what I hear, the opposition is also talking to some of our senators. We are not the only ones who are not resting on our laurels; they aren't either. The difference is that we are not afraid of it. You have to talk in parliament.” -- SOBOLEWSKI ON PIS'S STEEL AND THE LACK OF IDEOLOGUES IN PO: “In 2010-2011, when we lost the presidential and parliamentary elections, many people joined PiS, which pleasantly surprised us. That's when our success and the 'PiS steel' were forged. Times were tough, but people with an idea came to us. Forgive me, but on the other side, especially in PO, I don't really see ideological people. Unless the gentleman who was recently driving around Warsaw with his windows down was ideological. And I hear this is not the first and not the last gentleman to drive around the capital like that.” -- THE MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE ISSUE COULD HAVE BEEN PRESENTED BETTER - SOBOLEWSKI CONTINUES: “The issue of the minimum wage increase could have been packaged better; it wasn't handled well at first. The message that reached people was: the minimum wage is going up to PLN 4,000. Only after two or three days did voters realize that this is an increase spread over years, not a one-time gesture in 2020. These elections will certainly be the subject of analysis by researchers. But since we gained almost 2.5 million more votes than 4 years ago, it's hard to say we lost something. Compared to 2015, we gained new voters in the European elections, and they were supposed to be a draw. Therefore, after the Sejm and Senate campaigns, we cannot talk about losses, but rather about a shift in support, which definitely needs to be analyzed. Polls assumed that Confederation and PSL would be on the verge of the electoral threshold, yet both groups had no trouble crossing it, which also requires analysis.” -- TUSK WOULD WAKE UP OUR ELECTORATE - SOBOLEWSKI CONTINUES: “Donald Tusk would certainly wake up our electorate and draw our voters to the polls. If he wants to run, I see no obstacles; few people mobilize our electorate as much as he does.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/612077,wybory-prezydenckie-senat-sobolewski-wywiad.html -- WITH COMPARABLE RESOURCES, IT USUALLY ENDS WITH A DIFFERENCE OF 1-2 PERCENT - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “If I were a politician on the right, I would be very cautious about predicting President Andrzej Duda's victory in the first round. The experience of the last campaign indicates that inflating expectations can be as unpleasant in the end as a lack of faith in victory. It will be similar in May: victory itself is possible, but no one should have illusions that the fight won't be tough and close. And this is regardless of who ultimately stands on the other side. Such is the nature of democratic competition that with comparable resources, it usually ends with a difference of one or two percentage points.” -- KARNOWSKI ON MEDIA PRESSURE ON DUDU: “So where does the opposition's certainty come from? Have they become so detached from reality? It partly looks that way. But there is also a precise plan to take away the confidence of Andrzej Duda's team. With this media advantage, it makes some sense; these can be self-fulfilling prophecies. Can anything be done about it? Not much. But it's worth recognizing that this is a game of emotions, an attempt to force the president into nervous moves at the threshold of the campaign. Awareness of these pressures significantly reduces their effectiveness.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/471457-opozycja-za-wczesnie-dzieli-skore-na-niedzwiedziu -- BANAS CAN BE REMOVED - IZABELA KACPRZAK AND GRAŻYNA ZAWADKA IN RZ: “Adverse information about Marian Banaś, which came to light after his election as head of NIK, can be grounds for his dismissal – say lawyers. Are these 'magic ways' to remove the NIK chief, as Deputy PiS leader Adam Lipiński mentioned? If it happened, it would be an unprecedented situation.” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/311049905-Mariana-Banasia-mozna-usunac-ze-stanowiska-prezesa-NIK.html -- BANAS IS A PRODUCT OF THE PIS GOVERNMENT - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Banaś is, in fact, an almost textbook product of the PiS power system. The party, by constantly hedging around his case, has severely damaged its credibility. And every day Marian Banaś spends at NIK further undermines it.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/311049895-Szuldrzynski-Problem-NIK--na-wlasne-zyczenie.html -- THERE IS NO PARDON FOR THE THIRD REPUBLIC REGARDING MEDIA AND COURTS - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “There are two spheres where the Third Republic shows no mercy: the judiciary and the media. Here, anyone who steps out of line immediately becomes a mortal enemy. There is no forgiveness here.” -- THE TRIBUNAL IS NO LONGER PRIVATE PROPERTY OF THE MASTERS OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “In light of all this, it is worth remembering: the Constitutional Tribunal is no longer the private property of the masters of the Third Republic. Perhaps in the future it will be again, but today it is not.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/471456-trybunal-nie-jest-prywatna-wlasnoscia-iii-rp-juz-nie-jest -- TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL AS A TWISTED SAFETY VALVE: “These nominations indicate that PiS leaders are not concerned with stabilization and restoring trust in the CT. The Tribunal will remain a twisted constitutional safety valve, and it will depend solely on politicians when it works and when it doesn't.” https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/311049893-Dalsze-wykrecanie-bezpiecznikow---Tomasz-Pietryga-o-kandydaturach-PiS-na-sedziow-Trybunalu-Konstytucyjnego.html -- KOSINIAK THREATENS EVERYONE - SŁAWOMIR SIERAKOWSKI ON ONET: “Kosiniak threatens everyone. And he poses a problem for every party except PSL. If he takes third place, he will inflict a prestigious defeat on the Left, as he will sink its candidate. If he manages to defeat the PO candidate, he will bring them shame. And if he manages to defeat Andrzej Duda, he will achieve a historic victory and become an equal rival to Jarosław Kaczyński himself. This is Kosiniak's way to lead the entire Christian Democratic movement. But is it possible already now?” -- SIERAKOWSKI ON THE URBANIZATION OF PSL: “In these elections, Kosiniak can carry out a similar transfer of votes, only in the other direction. That's why every opposition voter should cheer him on. But will the idea of opposition primaries negate this process? Kosiniak may disqualify himself from the first round if he loses them. By putting forward this idea, the PSL candidate is playing all or nothing. He sees the crisis in PO and wants to exploit it, to take over all the initiative in the opposition. To steal PO voters now, counting on a leapfrog 'urbanization of PSL'.” -- WKK WOULD LEAD DUDU'S VOTERS TO THE OPPOSITION - SIERAKOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Kosiniak is very needed in the first round to lead Duda's voters to the opposition candidate.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/sierakowski-kosiniak-zagraza-kazdemu-i-dla-kazdej-partii-poza-psl-stanowi-problem/frzz9we -- NOT JUST A CANDIDATE, BUT ALSO AN IDEA - ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “After the parliamentary elections, a debate ensued on the opposition side about who to field in the presidential elections. One candidate or many? Primaries or top-down nominations? Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska or Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz? All these questions are secondary. Because to truly stop PiS, what is needed is not just a candidate, but above all an idea. And there is no discussion about that.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/05/pawlowski-wybory-prezydenckie-populizm-demokracja-liberalna/ -- A PERIOD OF TIGHTENING THE COURSE - PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI: “Since the subsequent campaign efforts to improve their image, broaden their appeal, and 'turn towards the center' did not yield the expected results, but rather correlated with such a proliferation of troubles – one could expect that, in accordance with a peculiar PiS economic cycle, another period of tightening the course awaits us. At least that's what the names of PiS's new nominees to the Constitutional Tribunal suggest.” -- KACZYŃSKI DECIDED SO BECAUSE HE COULD - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: “A communist apparatchik stripped of a democratic mandate, an icon of tribal fervor, and an 'inverted' deputy finance minister from the time when 'VAT mafias were robbing Poles.' All three nominations are a caricature of the appointment policy we should expect from the United Right governments. So why did Jarosław Kaczyński decide on them? Because he could.” -- THE GOD OF WAR HAS RETURNED - TRUDNOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Ultimately, after almost every election – lost (2010) or won (2015) – Kaczyński abandoned the campaign's 'turn to the center' and returned to initiating new wars on his terms. Most likely, after these elections as well, we will face this proven pattern. It is impossible to interpret the reheating of the already simmering conflict around the Constitutional Tribunal in any other way. The God of War has returned.” -- TRUDNOWSKI ON PAWŁOWICZ IN THE STYLE OF AMERICAN PALEOCONS - “Krystyna Pawłowicz, when she focused on her work at the university, stirred up invigorating fermentation there. As caricatural as it may sound after the past term, she presented a peculiar 'constitutional patriotism' in the style of the American paleoconservatives, which was her starting point for a fundamental critique of the Third Republic for ignoring the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Unfortunately, in politics, she became known not for her academic experience and intellectual courage, but rather for her lack of personal culture, crossing parliamentary ethics, and bizarre hateful attacks against opponents.” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2019/11/04/piotrowicz-i-pawlowicz-w-trybunale-konstytucyjnym-bog-wojny-powraca/ -- WILL THE LEFT REPLACE PLATFORM? - LEFT PARLIAMENTARIAN DARIA GOSEK-POPIOŁEK IN CONVERSATION WITH JAKUB BODZIONY IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “I would very much like the Left to not occupy opposition positions in the next term, but to be able to govern the country. In 4 years, we will fight for power or for the position of the largest opposition party in Poland. I think the main problem for Platform is that it still can't decide what kind of party it is.” -- PO HAS LOST ITS IMPETUS - GOSEK CONTINUES: “The squabbles and personal conflicts in Platform about who sat with whom in a restaurant and smoked cigars show that PO has lost its driving force and has no idea for itself. Instead of doing politics, they are playing silly games.” -- NEW TECHNOLOGIES, BUT THINKING SHOULD BE LIKE IN THE 19TH CENTURY - GOSEK-POPIOŁEK CONTINUES: “PiS has been talking a lot about innovation and modernization lately – presenting Morawiecki as a great modernizer of Poland. At the same time, they do not want a modern society. They want new technologies, but the thinking should be like in the 19th century. It's similar with PO, by the way. The Left is the 'full package'.” -- LEFT PARLIAMENTARIAN SUPPORTS THE BAN ON SUNDAY TRADING: “Regarding the restriction of Sunday trading. I support these solutions. But many good ideas were not realized at all, which is why I will remember this Sejm more for the things that did not happen, but should have.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/05/gosek-popiolek-lewica-razem-wywiad/ -- MAGDALENA ŚRODA ON HOW PLATFORM HID KIDAWĄ - she writes in GW: “Kaczyński – who lost the elections like a pathetic political dilettante from the suburbs to Kidawa-Błońska, who won them in grand style as a leader – immediately announced his victory to the world, while Kidawa's party immediately hid her under the carpet. Because apparently victories harm Platform, unless Donald Tusk achieves them (Schetyna has no chance anyway, as he is a Machiavellian leader, not a populist one).” -- ŚRODA ON TUSK AS NARCISSUS: “To be honest: he is not Wernyhora, but Narcissus. Let's recall: Narcissus was a youth who stood out for his great beauty and other qualities (Borys Budka says he has 'class and political intuition,' others that he 'has charm, intelligence, and brilliance,' still others that he 'knows history, can charm, and is cosmopolitan.' True). His great beauty did not allow Narcissus to cooperate with others; he abandoned loving women (the worst situation was for the goddess Echo, of whom only an echo remained), until he finally fell in love with his own reflection. He even wrote a book about it, 'Szczerze' (Sincerely).” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25377365,tuskowi-szczerze-zdecyduj-sie-wreszcie.html -- MICHAŁ SYSKA ON THE REASONS FOR VOTING FOR THE LEFT - HE TELLS TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “It is often suggested to the Left that it should abandon cultural or worldview demands and focus on social ones. We know, however, that if the Left wants to retain its current electorate, it cannot do so. Research clearly shows that people voted for the Left for identity-related reasons.” -- SPEAKING LIKE THE WORKING CLASS - SYSKA CONTINUES: “In my opinion, the Left could completely change the language it uses to discuss cultural issues – with the caveat that we are simplifying, because, for example, the issue of abortion also has a class dimension. I think that the message regarding issues such as women's rights or registered partnerships should be adapted to the language used by the working class. One can talk about cultural issues in the language of family values and caring for life. The point is to talk about the right to abortion not with the slogan 'abortion is OK,' but to say that it is a matter of safety for women, daughters, granddaughters, partners. Similarly, one can talk about registered partnerships. This would, of course, require some work from people coming from social movements who have found themselves in parliament. In Poland, left-wing social movements tend to engage in identity politics, not politics. They are happy to manifest their identity attitudes – but manifesting does not have persuasive value. The Left must persuade, not manifest. It must not create barriers or test voters.” -- THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE VISION IN PLATFORM - SYSKA CONTINUES IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Platform's biggest problem today is that we cannot even identify a potential successor to Schetyna. The PO leader will surely play for time now, because time will play to his advantage. Emotions will subside. But there is also the question of Platform's philosophy. From circles contesting leadership in PO, I only hear criticism of the failed election campaign. There is no alternative vision there of what Platform should be. These disputes are purely personal. However, PO's failed campaign undoubtedly helped the Left significantly.” -- SYSKA ON THE RIVALRY BETWEEN PO AND KONFEDERACJA: “More interesting to me than the rivalry between the Left and Platform is the rivalry between Platform and Konfederacja, which no one is talking about. Konfederacja entered parliament with a very pro-market, even libertarian economic program. Konfederacja is now the only party that openly advocates for the free market. Platform masked this somewhat during the campaign, but certainly, a significant percentage of voters in its electorate would prefer to take away the 500+ program and end 'handouts.' It's worth remembering that there were times when candidates of Janusz Korwin-Mikke's Union for Real Politics ran on PO's lists.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/05/wiosna-nie-istnieje-michal-syska-wywiad-tomasz-sawczuk/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Piotr Wierzbicki, Marek Dietl, Marcin Bosacki, Grażyna Kulczyk, Elżbieta Płonka.