-- ZBIGNIEW BUJAK TURNS 65. -- BEATA MAZUREK'S FIRM WORDS TO BANAS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/11/29 -- ZBIGNIEW JAGIEŁŁO OPENED THE NEW PKO ROTUNDA: https://twitter.com/PKOBP/status/1200354355456675841?s=20 -- KATARZYNA KOZŁOWSKA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF FAKT, ON THE UNDENIABLE FACT THAT THE PRIME MINISTER FORCED BANAS'S HARD STANCE: “Yesterday, finally, after 63 days of shame, the leadership of Law and Justice announced that they had demanded Banaś's resignation. There is no doubt that Mateusz Morawiecki forced this firm stance on his entourage. But will Marian Banaś actually resign? This is the first test of strength for the prime minister and the white swan in this term.” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/premier-morawiecki-zrozumial-ze-marian-banas-stanowi-dla-niego-zagrozenie/9kj1pbt -- JACEK JAŚKOWIAK ON NOT HARMING THE CIVIC PLATFORM - he tells Agnieszka Burzyńska in Fakt: “I don't think I'm harming the Civic Platform. I say I will be a president who will enable a discussion about difficult topics in Poland, but I have never said that I am in favor of euthanasia. With the current government, no discussion is possible. Of course, there are politicians who tailor their message to the social group they are addressing. I don't do that and I won't do it. I say the same thing to people from large cities as I do to people from small towns.” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/jacek-jaskowiak-o-kandydowaniu-na-prezydenta-prawybory-w-po/mjy10p5 -- KIDAW-BŁOŃSKA OR KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ CAN DEFEAT ANDRZEJ DUDA - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “The presidential election is won by the candidate closest to the center. After five years in office, Duda himself admitted that he is not the president of all Poles. Among the potential presidential candidates, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz are today the closest to the center. The rest are more or less extreme, even though some of them will want to put on the mask of 'president of everyone' for the May elections. (...) It will be difficult to defeat Andrzej Duda, but a change of president is possible if a hardworking opponent conducts a coherent campaign that unites Poles. And losing the election would be the beginning of the end of PiS's omnipotence.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/311289902-Nizinkiewicz-Z-Andrzejem-Duda-mozna-wygrac.html -- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON PIS'S PLAN FOR NIK TO BE RUN BY DEPUTY PRESIDENTS - she writes in GW: “It seems that the party leader and his people have developed another plan. (...) And now, even if a person reasonably independent of the ruling party takes the helm of NIK, their room for maneuver will be small. They will have deputies from PiS, and they won't be able to change that. Because it is the Marshal of the Sejm who decides on this, and Elżbieta Witek will act as planned by leader Kaczyński. In practice, therefore, even after Banaś's resignation, PiS will manage NIK. It is also possible that the arrangements for the new president will take so long that the deputy presidents will manage NIK.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25460390,w-sprawie-banasia-wszystko-uklada-sie-w-logiczna-calosc-jaki.html -- THE PRIME MINISTER WOULD CERTAINLY INFORM IF THE REPORT EXONERATED BANAS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “One doesn't need to be too perceptive to understand that if the report exonerated Banaś, the Prime Minister would certainly inform the public. Since a problem has arisen, it's a sign that the matter is not clear. And the services have likely gathered troublesome materials and are waiting for a political signal on what to do next.” -- SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE DEAL WITH BANAS: “The appointment on Wednesday of two politicians trusted by PiS as deputy presidents of NIK seems to be an element of a political deal between Banaś and the ruling party. Banaś likely knows perfectly well that the new deputies are not so much to help the NIK president control the state, but to control him. The only question is why he himself submitted a request to the Sejm for their appointment. Was it a response to a kind of ultimatum from the ruling party: either you resign yourself, appoint our people who will take care of NIK, and we will leave you alone, or we will still bring about your dismissal – through legislative changes or other legal maneuvers, and then you will leave in disgrace, completely dragged through the mud.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/191129289-Szuldrzynski-Twardy-jak-Marian-Banas.html -- TADEUSZ CYMAŃSKI ON NOT BEING ABLE TO OUTDO THE LEFT AND CONFEDERATION - IN PTT: “What do you expect? That we will do something soon that will outdo Confederation and Zandberg? In this balance of power in the Sejm, we must be primarily responsible.” https://plus.polskatimes.pl/tadeusz-cymanski-nie-mozemy-robic-zadnych-wygibasow-sila-spokoju/ar/c1-14616143 -- KRZYSZTOF HETMAN, IN CONVERSATION WITH KAMIL DZIOBKA, LEANS TOWARDS PSL SUPPORTING ZANDBERG IN A POTENTIAL SECOND ROUND IF HE ADVANCES: “I don't know, and I'm telling you this very honestly. Of course, for today it seems to me that we should point to Zandberg, but it would depend on what he presented during the campaign. However, it is crucial for us that Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz makes it to the second round.” -- TUSK - ACCORDING TO HETMAN - COULD SUPPORT TWO EPP CANDIDATES IN THE FIRST ROUND: “I know nothing about that. The two gentlemen had a conversation, but it was held in private. I don't know its content. I can imagine that in the first round he would support two candidates, i.e., the one from PO and ours. And he has every right to do so as the head of the European People's Party. Let me remind you that both PSL and Civic Platform belong to it. But again – we did not lobby for this.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/donald-tusk-poprze-dwoch-kandydatow-w-wyborach-prezydenckich-wiceprezes-psl-krzysztof/9qs49we -- RAZEM'S IDEAS ARE IDENTICAL TO PiS'S FLAWED DIAGNOSIS - BŁAŻEJ LENKOWSKI IN LIBERTE IN GW: “On the left, moderate social democracy in the Biedroń style is being displaced by the radicalism of the Razem party. This does not bode well for Poland's future. Because the Razem party is probably the most radical and openly anti-capitalist, anti-market, and socialist political group that has managed to gain serious traction in the Third Polish Republic. Its ideas for arranging the principles of economic life are identical to PiS's flawed diagnosis. What distinguishes Razem from Kaczyński's party is that they are at least rhetorically even more radical.” -- A MIX OF ZANDBERG AND PiS IS EXPLOSIVE: “Zandberg may have a chance to win over many voters who are currently leaning towards PiS. Some will say that of two evils, Razem is better than PiS. In a sense, that's true. However, if Polish politics boils down to a duel like the one we observed between Morawiecki and Zandberg – who can more effectively and rhetorically promise literally everything, detached from any economic possibilities – it will end in economic collapse with social expectations of miracles and a comfortable life. And that is a particularly explosive mixture.” -- RAZEM EMBODIES THE ENTITLED MILLENNIALS - LENKOWSKI CONTINUES: “Razem seems to embody a new, more entitled generation of millennials. Unlike the generation of their parents, the builders of the Third Polish Republic, who professed a cult of effort and entrepreneurship, today's youth seek a balance in professional and private life, wanting to work the minimum necessary and earn well at the same time. The economic situation allows more and more people to do this, although it does not contribute to increasing company productivity and has economic consequences. We are ceasing to chase the West; we are starting to jog. Jogging means economic slowdown, and economic slowdown means fewer opportunities for expanding social programs and state spending. The circle closes.” -- CORPORATE BALANCE SHEET IS POSITIVE FOR POLES - LENKOWSKI CONTINUES: “Indeed, there are a few giant companies in the new technologies sector that, due to the nature of their activities, often also in a strictly geographical sense, do not pay taxes in Poland like other companies. This is a global problem that is unlikely to be solved at the national level, so I congratulate Zandberg on his well-being and sense of agency. At the same time, the overall impact of many of these technology corporations on the Polish market is positive, and many of the unique products or information resources they provide do have great value for citizens.” -- LENKOWSKI ON ZANDBERG'S FLAWED GEOPOLITICAL DIAGNOSES: “However, geopolitically, we are entering a particularly difficult era, in which the ability to play on multiple fronts and attract various allies may be even more important than in the last 30 years. Poland cannot afford PiS's one-directional approach towards the United States, but it can even less afford Zandberg's American skepticism. Economic, political, and military engagement of the United States in Poland should be a constant element of consensus among all political forces. Especially since, despite Trump's pleasant platitudes about heroic Poland, the US is increasingly less interested in our region. Therefore, within the available means, we must consider how to counteract this, instead of attacking Polish-American military cooperation or criticizing the presence of American corporations in our country. A politician with aspirations like Zandberg's should be expected to know the basics of geopolitical games in our region.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25458906,zandbergizm-nas-nie-zbawi.html -- EUPHORIA IN THE LEFT-WING BUBBLE, FEAR OF RADICALS IN THE LIBERAL ONE - MICHAŁ SYSKA IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “Will the level of reflection, views, and the way they are presented by Razem parliamentarians, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk or Maciej Gdula, prove to be representative of the entire faction? Already, articles are appearing in liberal media trying to portray the aforementioned group of deputies as dangerous radicals. Will the rest of the club withstand the pressure to distance themselves from the 'neo-communists,' or will they obediently fall into line with the 'anti-PiS' ranks under the leadership of the liberal part of the opposition?” -- SYSKA ON THE LEFT'S EFFECTIVE WEAPON AGAINST PiS: “In politics, attacking the rival's strongest points is most effective. And it is precisely social transfers and economic stability that are the assets that determine the high support for Kaczyński's party. Pointing out the discrepancy between the government's declarations and reality in this very area is the most dangerous weapon against PiS. And the left has taken up this weapon.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/michal-syska-lewica-euforia-liberalowie-strach/ -- ZANDBERG IS AN AMBIVALENT LEADER - A LEFT-WING POLITICIAN IN A GAZETA.PL ARTICLE: “I think he is a new type of leader, without authoritarian tendencies like Schetyna or Kaczyński - explains a person familiar with Zandberg in an interview with Gazeta.pl. - Someone once said about Marcelina (Zawisza - ed.) that she is Schetyna in a skirt. But it was about managing people and that they listen to her, not that she is authoritarian - we hear. Another of our interlocutors, asked about Zandberg as a leader, adds: He never wanted to take full responsibility for the role of a leader. He preferred a form of media, informal leadership, not necessarily with all the attendant benefits. One could get the impression that he couldn't decide whether he wanted to be a leader through and through. So he was an ambivalent leader.” -- ZANDBERG ADMITS TO GAZETA.PL THAT HE IS A GRUMBLER: “He's a grumbler, but he's a good person - adds another acquaintance of the Razem leader. - He moans terribly about everything. Seriously. But he's not a maniac; of his flaws, the worst is grumbling - he adds. Zandberg doesn't hide that he sometimes grumbles. - There's something to it; I sometimes overdo it, for example, with polishing a text. And when I'm not satisfied with the results, I do tend to grumble - he admits when I ask him about complaining.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25458344,adrian-zandberg-maruda-ktory-ma-zbawic-polska-lewice.html -- JAKUB BODZIONY ON CONFEDERATION PRETENDING TO BE A PRO-MARKET ALTERNATIVE - he writes in Kultura Liberalna: “The misfortune for voters with liberal economic views is the fact that there is currently no particularly broad electoral offer for them. In the campaign, PO engaged in a bidding war with PiS on social policy, while Nowoczesna is a shadow of its former self. Nevertheless, the xenophobic Avengers under the Confederation banner are not any real alternative for free market proponents. This alleged bundle of libertarian views, represented mainly by Mentzen (who, incidentally, did not get into the Sejm) and Artur Dziambor, serves primarily as a way to mask the worldview extremism of a significant part of this environment. It may also be an attempt to differentiate themselves from PiS, or perhaps primarily to attract media attention. However, the motivations do not matter here. In the era of fake news and mockery of reason, certain things must be said clearly and unequivocally. There is no liberalism in Confederation.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/29/konfederacja-w-sejmie-komentarz-bodziony/ -- JACEK SANTORSKI WONDERS WHY SCHETYNA DOESN'T LEARN - in an interview with Jakub Bodziony in KL: “If I comment on our public debate, I ask, for example, in the name of what should a person like Mr. Grzegorz Schetyna, who consistently fails to unlearn bad things and learn good ones, hold a leadership position in any company. But I will never say that he is finished, and that he was useless. I would just ask, based on what criteria do we consider him to be an optimal leader. And I would end the debate there. In social life, there is a hidden agenda according to which politicians are often concerned with power and control, but they speak as if they were concerned with the cause. If these cards remain undiscovered, we can only evaluate them according to our own criteria.” -- SANTORSKI ON BETTER INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION WITHOUT VIOLENCE: “The chance for understanding exists only when we do not attack the other person's ego. We do not use the 'you' language – meaning we don't say someone is stubborn, stupid, and lazy, but the 'I' language, where we try to convey that something is difficult for us to accept. You know, no one who I don't love can hurt me. If I hear various insults directed at me, then if it's not a person I love, it simply doesn't affect me. If my wife tells me I'm heartless, then I'll get really angry because I love her very much.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/26/jacek-santorski-negocjacje-debata-polska-wywiad/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Zbigniew Bujak, Cezary Stypułkowski, Aleksander Kobecki, Andrzej Pawluszek.