-- PRIME MINISTER AT THE ATLETICO MADRID VS. FC BARCELONA MATCH WITH THE SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: https://www.facebook.com/MorawieckiPL/ -- KALETA ON FRENCH AND GERMAN MODELS FOR JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/12/02/ -- JAN ŚPIEWAK ON WHY HE DIDN'T GO TO THE JUDICIAL DEMONSTRATIONS: "I believed that public pressure would force judges to a bit of reflection. To propose changes and cleanse themselves of black sheep. Three years after the outbreak of the reprivatization affair, I see that the courts and the entire justice system require radical democratic reform. Polish courts today are an oasis and a guarantor of feudal social relations. (...) The enormous power that courts possess requires enormous responsibility. The 'reforms' proposed by PiS aim only at replacing people and linking them to the ruling camp. The harassment of judges who rule against the authorities' wishes is dangerous. Meanwhile, a thorough change of the entire system is necessary. Radical democratization of the justice system – both judicial and prosecutorial. I don't have ready-made recipes, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the key issues to solve in the near future if we want to live in a truly democratic state." https://www.facebook.com/JanDawidSpiewak/posts/2850575984960615?__tn__=K-R -- SHE SAVED THE TIGERS, THE POZNAŃ AUTHORITIES CUT HER BONUS BY 30% - PIOTR ŻYTNICKI IN WIELKOPOLSKA GW: "We saved the tigers, we gave the city great promotion. What the city officials are doing is pure malice - says Ewa Zgrabczyńska, director of the Poznań Zoo. The Poznań authorities have just cut her bonus by 30%. Why, then, was Zgrabczyńska's bonus cut now? It turns out that saving the tigers and the publicity it brought the city mean nothing. Joanna Żabierek, spokesperson for the city hall, explains that each director is given specific tasks before the start of the next quarter. If they complete them, the bonus is credited to their account. The city hall cut Zgrabczyńska's bonus because 'the quality of execution of the assigned task was lower than expected' and its implementation 'was deemed not fully thorough'. https://poznan.wyborcza.pl/poznan/7,36001,25459488,ludzie-pokochali-dyrektorke-zoo-gdy-uratowala-tygrysy-z-granicy.html -- AFTER GW PUBLICATION, JAŚKOWIAK ANNOUNCED ON FB THAT HE AWARDED THE ZOO DIRECTOR 10 THOUSAND ZŁOTY BONUS, AND SHE ANNOUNCED SHE WOULDN'T ACCEPT IT: "Mayor Jaśkowiak awarded the Zoo director a 10,000 PLN bonus. Ewa Zgrabczyńska refused to accept it." https://epoznan.pl/news-news-100582-prezydent_jaskowiak_przyznal_dyrektorce_zoo_10_tys_zl_nagrody_za_ratowanie_tygrysow -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ WRITES THAT SCHETYNA'S PRIMARIES WERE INTENDED TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS: "Grzegorz Schetyna's plan was for the presidential primaries within PO to be the most important political event of the year. There were supposed to be several candidates, representing different currents of PO. They were supposed to travel around Poland and engage in many debates. This would allow Schetyna to divert attention from his own troubles – the third consecutive lost election, after which some PO politicians demanded his resignation." https://www.google.pl/amp/s/wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/andrzej-stankiewicz-zblizaja-sie-prawybory-prezydenckie-po-zaczynaja-sie-docinki/ljgmk51.amp -- PLATFORMA CONTINUES TO BEHAVE AS IF EVERYTHING IS OWED TO IT - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: "At the moment, however, we don't know what those ideas are. And one can doubt whether we will find out before the election, because Kidawa-Błońska behaves as if the presidency is simply owed to her. We do know, however, that Borys Budka, currently Grzegorz Schetyna's main rival for the leadership of Platforma and a potential 'candidate for change,' supports Kidawa-Błońska in the primaries, as does the new Speaker of the Senate, Tomasz Grodzki." -- AND SO THE PO CANDIDATE HAS THE BIGGEST CHANCE FOR THE SECOND ROUND - SAWCZUK CONTINUES: "The primaries in PO have a very limited format, and there are only two weeks left until their conclusion. It's not worth having exaggerated expectations about their course. Nevertheless, they are not devoid of significance. The primaries in Platforma may be extremely boring, and new presidential candidates, such as Szymon Hołownia, may pop up before the elections like rabbits from a hat, but it is the PO candidate who has the greatest chance of facing Andrzej Duda in the second round of the election. It is therefore important who becomes this candidate and what proposal they will make to Poles. It is Platforma that can lead the opposition to another defeat – or to victory." https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/12/02/prawybory-kidawa-po-komentarz/ -- THE SYSTEM WILL COLLAPSE AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - ANDRZEJ HALICKI IN CONVERSATION WITH IWONA SZPALA IN GW: "Unfortunately, they don't always believe that their vote counts. That's why our role is to give them the best candidate. PiS no longer has its former comfort; the opposition has the Senate. The era of propaganda, blackmail, and total power is ending. The system will collapse when an opposition candidate becomes president." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25468943,kidawa-blonska-czy-jaskowiak-kazde-z-nich-jest-lepsze-od-dudy.html -- PIS HAS USED ALL ITS RESERVES, MARCHING TO THE CENTER MAY BE DEMOTIVATING FOR PIS VOTERS - MACIEJ GDULA in conversation with Marcin Fijołek on Sieci: "It works, but at the same time, looking at the election results, including the loss of the Senate, it's clear that this model is not developmental. PiS has used up all its reserves. Obviously, we are not fortune-tellers, but the presidential election will be the test. PiS's current idea is to move as far to the center as possible – to signal right-wingness, but talk about agreement, pluralism, etc. I don't know if this will be mobilizing for some PiS voters. I myself expect every politician to define the vision of Poland they want to implement and the challenges we face." -- GDULA ON INTERESTING THREADS WITH MORAWIECKI: "This is an important thread. I listened with great interest to the Prime Minister's speeches in the Sejm – there was some idea there, data, substance. The big question is whether Morawiecki will gain autonomy from PiS and Kaczyński to implement his plans. And whether, by triggering cultural conflicts (as in the case of LGBT or 'the wave of post-Marxism'), PiS is able to create an atmosphere for making certain changes. I doubt it. It is difficult to combine a radically right-wing, exclusionary language of national unity with middle-class openness and institution building." https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/475489-nasz-wywiad-gdula-bedziemy-inna-opozycja -- IN MY OPINION, NOTHING OF STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE IS HAPPENING IN POLISH POLITICS RIGHT NOW. IT WILL ONLY START HAPPENING AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - dr Rafał Chwedoruk in conversation with wiadomości.co: "Let's remember that a record number of voters participated in the last election, which means that voters of various backgrounds came to the polls, from the deeply politically engaged to those who voted for the first time. Everyone benefited from the high turnout, and all parties that ran entered parliament, which is an unprecedented situation, making it difficult to draw far-reaching conclusions for the future, as it is hard to imagine a repeat of such a situation. We also have the novelty effect concerning Konfederacja and Lewica – here, albeit partially, because alongside a group of newcomers, there are experienced parliamentarians from SLD. Therefore, I recommend caution when interpreting polls. Especially since since 2006, we have become accustomed to a stable duo dominating Polish politics. -- THE MORE LEFT WANTS TO BE LEFT-WING ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES, THE GREATER THE DANGER OF LOSING POTENTIAL VOTERS TO PO. IF IT WANTS TO BE MORE CULTURALLY LIBERAL, THE PROSPECT OF VICTORY FOR THE ENTIRE OPPOSITION WILL DIMINISH, BECAUSE PIS WILL HAVE NO RIVALS IN THE ATTEMPT TO REACH SOCIAL VOTERS - Chwedoruk continues. -- PIS HAS WEAKENED THE POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR GOVERNING - Chwedoruk continues: "After these elections, we are dealing with a paradox. PiS has increased its social legitimacy to govern, but at the same time has weakened its political foundations for governing. And I'm not referring to the Senate here, because in hard politics, only two facts matter: that PiS has a mere 5-seat majority in the Sejm hall, which always carries risks in voting, and the second factor is nearly 40 coalition MPs from parties that do not have great political strength but have great ambitions." -- CHWEDORUK ON THE REALISTIC POLL OF 53:47 FOR PAD: "Andrzej Duda is the favorite at the moment, but it won't be a one-sided match. If we sum up the results of the opposition parties, with the caveat that it doesn't work that simply, in the presidential elections and look at PiS's results, and consider the portion of voters who don't vote for PiS but would be willing to support Andrzej Duda in a plebiscite situation, then such a difference sounds realistic." https://wiadomo.co/prof-rafal-chwedoruk-pis-ma-slabsze-podstawy-do-rzadzenia/ -- ADAM JARUBAS ON PSL NO LONGER CAMPAIGNING IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY AS IN HIS CAMPAIGN - says Kamil Dziubka in Onet: "And that was a bitter lesson. Not everything always goes as we plan. I conducted my campaign by following the traditional PSL route, i.e., based on party structures. The results of the recent parliamentary elections showed that we had the largest increase in support where our party organization is weakest. This means that the electorate is the most important thing, not the party structures. And communication with it." https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/byly-kandydat-na-prezydenta-adam-jarubas-psl-przyjalem-propozycje-andrzeja-dudy-do/qdkft86 -- AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK INTERESTINGLY REPORTS PIOTR IKONOWICZ'S WORDS AT THE RAZEM CONGRESS: "This speech reached the masses, small towns, the people, the PiS electorate" – Ikonowicz assessed Zandberg's Sejm speech. He noted that it was brilliant, but not particularly left-wing. And he added: "My dream is for Adrian [Zandberg] to run and face the demon of intellect – Andrzej Duda." -- SZCZĘŚNIAK QUOTES INTERESTING WORDS FROM ANNA MARIA ŻUKOWSKA: "We're adopting the language of Civic Platform" – Anna Maria Żukowska complained about the left, giving examples like "the Banaś republic" and "call Banaś." "I'm sick of it. This way, we won't introduce our own topics." In her opinion, the left should use its own language. What language? "We should de-mystify various words, one of them is the word socialism." https://oko.press/sodowa-nam-nie-odbije-partia-razem-po-wyborach-rozmawia-o-swojej-przyszlosci/ -- PIS OVEREXERTED PRESSURE ON BANAS - WOJCIECH CZUCHNOWSKI IN GW: "The president was close to submitting his resignation on Friday. In the first half of the day, he was arranging matters related to his resignation. We were sure that he would go to the Sejm soon. I watched the parking lot; his driver was constantly waiting. Around 3 PM, I realized something had happened. A moment later, I learned that everything was canceled – this is what one of the NIK employees, through whose office the most important information passed, told 'Wyborcza' about Friday's events. What happened? – In my opinion, PiS politicians overdid the pressure." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75248,25468394,banas-zacial-sie-pod-presja-jak-pis-zmusi-go-do-dymisji.html -- PIS WILL FACE CONSEQUENCES - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: "Regarding the head of NIK, everything went according to the previous PiS logic of taking over state institutions to serve the party up to a certain point. Instead of clear and transparent nomination procedures, the party card is the rule here. 'Armored' Marian seemed to be one of them. On Friday, the former PiS spokesperson wrote on Twitter: 'Mr. Banaś, wake up, it's time to get up and give people an answer: resignation or not?', as if it wasn't about someone who, just two months ago, amidst a storm of applause, moved from the finance minister's chair to the NIK president's chair. The current deadlock is not Marian Banaś's problem, although PiS will try to present it as such. It is the ruling party's problem. And it will be the one that has to bear all the consequences." https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/312019965-Szuldrzynski-Jeden-Pancerny-i-PiS.html -- HEADS SHOULD ROLL IN THE SERVICES, AND AN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: "In addition to the head of NIK, the heads of Mariusz Kamiński and Piotr Pogonowski should also roll. Without extraordinary actions, the affair will not be explained. The role of the services, politicians, and Banaś's connections to the VAT mafia will not be unraveled. Konfederacja is demanding an investigative committee regarding Banaś. It may turn out that without media and political exposure, the government will bury the affair. An investigative committee, headed by an opposition representative, could ensure that the government does not sweep the problem under the rug. The case of the current head of NIK may turn out to be one of the biggest scandals of the Third Polish Republic, which the rulers cannot explain on their own. And the fact that it could sink PiS is becoming increasingly obvious. The more the government equivocates and gets entangled in its explanation, the greater shadow it will cast upon itself, also harming Andrzej Duda before the presidential elections." https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/312019967-Nizinkiewicz-Potrzebna-pancerna-komisja-sledcza.html -- DO WE NEED MORE ARGUMENTS THAT POLITICAL POWER HARASSES JUDGES? - WOJCIECH TUMIDALSKI IN RZ: "He was removed from judging precisely when he demanded the disclosure of signatures supporting candidates for the National Council of the Judiciary. Then he encountered the machinery of disciplining the disobedient. I don't know if the proponents of change in the courts wanted this, but initiating disciplinary proceedings and suspending a judge from duty can only facilitate the Supreme Court's expected justification that the executive branch is exerting pressure on the courts. Not only pressure: if a judge, like Paweł Juszczyszyn, rules against the authorities' wishes, he faces disciplinary harassment. Do we need more arguments?" -- TUMIDALSKI ON THE SEJM CHANCELLERY'S PROCEEDINGS REGARDING THE KRS: "By the way, by what right does an auxiliary-executive body claim the right to analyze court rulings, which it simply has to execute? Unthinkable in a state of law." https://www.rp.pl/Sedziowie-i-sady/312019949-Wojciech-Tumidalski-sedzia-KRS-we-wlasnej-sprawie.html -- WE CAN BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF THAT TUSK IS BACK TO PLAYING FOOTBALL - JOACHIM BRUDZIŃSKI SAID ON RADIO MARYJA: "He always appears, provokes, incites, tries to destabilize the situation. Today we can say that everyone in Europe has reason to breathe a sigh of relief that Donald Tusk is returning to what he likes best, namely playing football. Let him deal with that. Physical condition is very important, promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports is very important. (...) Let him leave Europe and Poland in peace." https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/475343-brudzinski-o-koncu-kadencji-tuska-europa-odetchnie-z-ulga -- BOOMER ALPHABET BY PIOTR WITWICKI - FRAGMENT: "Donald Trump. The mental leader of Boomers worldwide. The Polish Boomer most often hates Trump but strongly resembles him. They also have a similar sense of humor. Europe. It is best understood not during Erasmus but after a few glasses of wine in Tuscany or oysters in Brittany. Fake news. The Boomer regularly falls for it on Twitter. Those strangely looking profiles and information create confusion. But it looks real! – the Boomer thinks and delves into more fakes." https://opinie.wp.pl/piotr-witwicki-alfabet-boomera-opinia-6451988160120961a -- GW ADMITS THAT KRUPIŃSKI WAS ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED MANAGERS - in an article about changes in the Pekao management board: "Krupiński is one of the most talented young generation managers in Poland. During PiS's first term (2005-07), he earned the title of 'PiS's golden child.' He was then deputy minister of the treasury. He was the youngest in the government. It was thanks to his ministerial strategy that today's recognized energy giants, such as PGE or Tauron, were created." https://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,25463260,prezes-pekao-michal-krupinski-zrezygnowal-jest-juz-znany-jego.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Joanna Szczęsna, Robert Golański (turning 40), Tomasz Bańkowski, Henryk Majewski.