-- KOWALCZYK TO HEAD FINANCE COMMITTEE, WINNICKI ANNOUNCES QUICK INITIATIVE ON PROTECTION OF LIFE, GRODZKI FOR MAINTAINING THE “ABORTION COMPROMISE” - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/11/14/ -- PIS WANTS TO END FUR FARMING - RZ: “Is the President’s gesture truly a signal confirming a return to the project? According to our information, in unofficial conversations, he confirms that he wants to close down fur farms, although he does not specify a timeframe for the changes. – The fact that MPs are eagerly signing up for the team is a good sign. The crucial aspect is when the project will be debated in the Sejm and in what form – comments Cezary Wyszyński from the pro-animal foundation Viva!” https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1416164-Ponadpartyjny-akces-prezesa.html -- SASIN MOST INFLUENTIAL GOVERNMENT MASCOT - AGATA KONDZIŃSKA QUOTES A FORMER PiS POLITICIAN IN GW: “Sejm, the first session of the new term. New MPs are still finding their way, while veterans walk familiar paths. Jacek Sasin from PiS exits the corridors, he has a few dozen meters to cover, but the journey seems to drag on as he keeps stopping, shaking hands, posing for photos. A former PiS politician observes this scene from the mezzanine above. – Jacek is becoming the most influential mascot of this government – he comments. -- KONDZIŃSKA ON THE SEARCH FOR A WOMAN: “He only failed to name a candidate for the Ministry of Sport, as a volunteer was still being sought for this position. According to unofficial sources, Morawiecki wanted a woman to be responsible for sport.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25407342,pis-dogrywa-szczegoly-rzadowej-ukladanki-szukaja-kobiety.html -- KIDAWA STRONGER AGAINST DUDA THAN TRZASKOWSKI, KOSINIAK HAS NO CHANCE FOR ROUND 2 - SURVEY FOR GDP AND RMF, ALTHOUGH IT'S IBRIS: “Around 28% each – that’s the percentage of votes in the first round of the presidential elections that Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska and Rafał Trzaskowski would receive today. Both clearly lose to Andrzej Duda and equally clearly defeat Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is third in the rankings. Both clearly lose to Andrzej Duda, who would get 41.3% of the votes against Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, and 43.3% of the votes against Rafał Trzaskowski.” -- MICHAŁ KAMIŃSKI'S COMMENTARY: “Indeed, a significant gap is visible between the PO representative and the rest of the opposition. – Without being a PO candidate, it is very difficult to reach the second round, but being one, it is very difficult to win – comments Michał Kamiński, a senator for PSL.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/612786,sondaz-druga-tura-kadydaci-duda-kidawa-blonska.html -- CITIZENS STILL NOT NEEDED BY PLATFORMA - JACEK ŻAKOWSKI IN GW: “After a turbulent campaign, 70,000 residents participated in them. Only with such a chosen candidate from outside the major parties did Orbán’s candidate lose. PO is not yet mature enough for this. They mislead us by claiming that primaries are an intra-party choice of a party colleague. However, if citizens are still not needed by Platforma, even to choose a candidate, then it will likely turn out again that PO is not needed by citizens either. The chance that a party politician will engage people is slim, even if the party pays fortunes to election trick specialists. The problem is systemic. Success in a party depends on who appeals to party colleagues. Whereas electoral success depends on who appeals to voters. Whoever doesn’t see this difference loses in democracy.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25407002,slowa-bartlomieja-sienkiewicza-dowodza-ze-politykom-partyjnym.html -- ONE ADDITIONAL BITTER PILL CHANGES LITTLE - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “In these and many other moments, the opposition and its media have proven that a breakthrough has occurred. The opposition's Piedmont was supposed to be first Brussels, then Gdańsk, and finally Warsaw. Nothing much ever came of it. For a simple reason: if you didn't have total power from the start, if you always had to maneuver, often retreat, always consider forces and procedures, swallow bitter pills for four years, then one additional one, this time in the Senate, doesn't change much.” -- OPPOSITION INSTINCTS STRONGER THAN REASON - KARNOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “However, a more interesting question is what the opposition truly intends to do with the Senate's success. Won't setting this political center on an aggressive, sharp counter-stance against everything 'PiS-like' lead the 'totalists' to another spectacular fall from pride? Will they again succumb to the temptation to trample democratic principles by resorting to thugs (this time likely let into the Sejm)? Won't they quickly embarrass themselves by trying to convince Poles that a (perhaps temporary) mandate in the Senate gives them the right to conduct an independent foreign policy, to distance themselves from the Polish state as their local governments do? Won't they turn the Senate into another circus? Won't they remind us of their true nature, people who consider themselves owners of the country? In other words: if the Senate is now to be a pure, total anti-PiS entity, it might bring a breakthrough, but in the opposite direction. Although in my opinion, these instincts are stronger than reason.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/472689-utrata-senatu-jest-dla-pis-bolesna-ale-go-nie-zabije -- LUDWIK DORN IN GW ON THE FOX AND SOUR GRAPES: “Therefore, I think the Sejm debates will look better, at least regarding the possibility for opposition MPs to submit more broadly motivated objections. This is a classic situation of the fox and the sour grapes; since PiS cannot eat these grapes, it declares them sour, and besides, we are parliamentary democrats.” -- DORN: IN THE SENATE, THE OPPOSITION CAN SHOW WHAT PUBLIC DEBATE CAN LOOK LIKE: “Secondly, the Senate, as a foothold gained by the opposition, can become a place from which the opposition shows what public debate and political dispute can look like. It can be a bastion of democratic-liberal Poland within a non-liberal Poland. The only question is whether the opposition will utilize this opportunity.” -- DORN ON PI'S POTENTIAL TO CUT THE SENATE'S BUDGET: “About 40% of PiS voters use television news channels other than TVP, and the boycott of the Senate by Kurski's soldiers will only increase the interest of other journalists in its proceedings. The political significance of the Senate will only grow. I would be more concerned that PiS will drastically cut the Senate's budget. That would be a dangerous blow.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25406868,dorn-jesli-opozycji-bedzie-sie-chcialo-senat-moze-sie-stac.html -- PLATFORMA CAN ACTUALLY WIN SOMETHING - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ ON SCHETYNA'S STRENGTHENING: “Taking back the Speaker of the Senate position from PiS is Schetyna's first clear success in several years, which may lead some voters critical of PiS to believe that after four years of laments and hand-wringing, Platforma is capable of winning something. Even if it is a symbolic victory, it was immensely needed by Schetyna, especially at a time when post-election reckonings are beginning within the Civic Coalition, and many politicians would already like to settle into the KO leader's chair. And although Schetyna lacks the charisma of a leader who can draw crowds, he has once again proven that few can match him in behind-the-scenes games and personnel arrangements – that is, in what constitutes the essence of tough, sometimes even brutal, politics.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/311139898-Szuldrzynski-Trzej-zwyciezcy-senackiej-rozgrywki.html?cid -- BIRTHDAYS: Stanisław Karczewski, Marek Ostrowski, Michał Strąk.