-- NO MEETINGS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE VENICE COMMISSION – FOREIGN MINISTER ON THE PRIME MINISTER'S DECISION: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/01/09/ -- EASTERN EUROPEAN WORKERS REMAIN SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS IN POLAND – BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA IN RZ: "Are we making adequate efforts to make their lives easier on the Vistula? They are still second-class citizens here. They wait months for visas and work permits. They do not have equal labor or pay rights. Often hidden in the grey economy, they receive crumbs from the master's table. And apart from saving the Polish economy, they are primarily human beings, with their human dignity, no less than ours. They are guests in our home, whom we should bow to for choosing Poland. We must strive for them, especially as an economic downturn is approaching. Inflation is weakening the zloty. Eastern European workers have weaker and weaker arguments to stay here. Let's change that. Let's fight for them, because they are our future..." https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze-ekonomiczne/301089906-Boguslaw-Chrabota-Zanim-Ukraincy-rusza-na-Zachod.html -- PRESIDENT DUDA SAYS NO TO CURRENT PiS CAMPAIGN STAFF – SYLWESTER RUSZKIEWICZ IN WP: "As Wirtualna Polska has established, before the official launch of President Andrzej Duda's election campaign, there is turmoil regarding the staffing of the election committee. The head of state and his associates are making it known that they do not want people in the committee who worked on recent Law and Justice (PiS) election campaigns in local and parliamentary elections. This concerns former close associates of Beata Szydło – the founders of the company Solvere, Anna Plakwicz and Piotr Matczuk. According to Wirtualna Polska's findings, all three would like to actively participate in the campaign. However, the head of state increasingly wants to run the election race on his own terms. The final decision, however, is to be made by the top leadership of PiS at Nowogrodzka Street." -- RUSZKIEWICZ ON THE PRESIDENT'S OBJECTION: "-- He asked his associates to convey to Nowogrodzka that he does not agree to their participation in the campaign. He did not hire them for the Presidential Chancellery after the victorious elections in 2015, even though they worked on his campaign. He also negatively assesses the end of the PiS campaign in last year's Sejm elections, for which Plakwicz and Matczuk were primarily responsible – a close associate of President Andrzej Duda tells WP." -- THE HEAD OF STATE IS BEING URGED TO APPOINT A MANAGER FROM OUTSIDE POLITICS TO HEAD THE CAMPAIGN – RUSZKIEWICZ CONTINUES: "Szydło will not be the head of the presidential campaign committee. However – as still the most popular politician in PiS alongside the head of state – she is expected to be very active in the presidential campaign. Searches are underway for someone to lead the committee. The decision has not yet been made – a source from the Presidential Palace told us. Our information indicates that the head of state is being persuaded to choose someone from outside politics, with managerial skills, and experience in running advertising campaigns and managing people." https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kto-zrobi-kampanie-andrzejowi-dudzie-szykuje-sie-wojna-o-sztab-wyborczy-6465557421381249a -- IT IS HARD TO BLAME PI&S FOR ALL OF THIS, IT IS WORTH GOING BEYOND THE POLISH-POLISH WAR – MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: "To put it bluntly: the event is designed so that Putin can bypass Poland. And it is no coincidence that the Polish president was denied the right to speak. Putin will probably use this opportunity to remind everyone of his thesis that Poland started World War II. It is hard to blame PiS for all of this. It is worth momentarily stepping outside the Polish-Polish war and thinking about the national interest." -- SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KANTOR AND KWAŚNIEWSKI: "Bartosz Węglarczyk suggested on Onet that Duda should ask Lech Wałęsa to represent Poland. I have a different idea. Let Aleksander Kwaśniewski represent our country. After all, he and Kantor have known each other for a long time..." https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/200109515-Szuldrzynski-Forum-w-Jerozolimie-ma-ominac-Polske-nie-PiS.html -- THE AUTHORITIES HAVE CONSIDERED THE US-IRAN CONFLICT AS PART OF PRESIDENT DUDA'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN – AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK IN OKO: "PiS wants to be the sole player in domestic politics on the issue of the Middle East crisis. It consistently ignores the opposition's calls for cooperation, and President Duda does not want to convene the National Security Council. The ruling camp has considered the conflict between the US and Iran as part of Andrzej Duda's re-election campaign." https://oko.press/pis-ignoruje-opozycje-w-sprawie-iranu-sytuacja-na-bliskim-wschodzie-czescia-kampanii-andrzeja-dudy/ -- SYLWESTER RUSZKIEWICZ ON SPECULATION THAT KRZYSZTOF SZCZERSKI COULD JOIN THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS IN PLACE OF JANUSZ WOJCIECHOWSKI: "As Wirtualna Polska has unofficially learned, the head of the President's Chancellery, Krzysztof Szczerski, is applying for the position of auditor at the European Court of Auditors. He would replace Janusz Wojciechowski, who has formally served as Commissioner for Agriculture in the European Parliament since December last year. The salary of an auditor at the Court is approximately 20,000 euros per month." https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/krzysztof-szczerski-porzuci-prezydenta-dude-nieoficjalnie-ubiega-sie-nowe-stanowisko-6465173679425665a -- AGNIESZKA BURZYŃSKA IN FAKT ASKS ABOUT AGENCY IN RELATION TO TRUMP: "Did Donald Trump inform his allies about the planned action against Iran? And what next, because the fact that Trump's speech does not end the matter seems to be an obvious truth? There are more and more questions, and the Polish authorities are silent. Yet, not only American soldiers but also Polish soldiers are stationed in Iraq. I realize that these are matters that cannot be fully public. However, we are entitled to answers to the basic questions in this matter. The fundamental question is - do the Polish authorities even know these answers? And that is the most worrying." https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/agnieszka-burzynska-o-decyzji-donalda-trumpa/1ed68bv -- ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ ON POLAND'S ISOLATION: "Poland must have its own opinion on what is happening in the world. Its absence deepens our isolation and the conviction of world leaders that it is not even worth picking up the phone to call us. Even though we have sent soldiers to the Middle East who are risking their lives. Their safety is now the sole responsibility of the Polish government." https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/301089909-Zuzanna-Dabrowska-Samotnosc-krotkodystansowca.html -- GW'S LEAD STORY ON THE GET BACK CASE: "The Financial Supervision Authority delayed notifying the prosecutor's office about irregularities at GetBack for over two months. During this time, the company sold bonds worth hundreds of millions of zlotys to Poles. Today, they are worthless." -- GW CITES THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME AUDIT OFFICE AT A CLOSED SESSION OF A SEJM COMMITTEE AT THE REQUEST OF PI&S: "The findings of the report were presented on Tuesday afternoon by the Vice-President of the Supreme Audit Office, Tadeusz Dziuba. Although he was speaking at a session of the Sejm finance committee, the public could not hear him. At the request of the President of the KNF, the session was held behind closed doors; PiS MPs voted in favor of this." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25578694,polacy-stracili-trzy-razy-tyle-ile-w-amber-goldrzad-ukrywa.html -- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI ON THE NEED FOR TUSK 5.0 – WRITES IN GW: "But Tusk as we know him will not help us. It must be Tusk 5.0. It would be best if the democrats had a new Tusk. Since he is not visible, there is no point in looking for him forcefully. It doesn't have to be a completely new Tusk. The same one can win, although not exactly the same. (...) Churchill, de Gaulle, Wałęsa, Napoleon are strong evidence that returns in old clothes end badly. But there are also successful returns in new clothes. Kaczyński and Orbán are good examples. Although their new clothes are even worse for democracy than the old ones. I am not encouraging Tusk or his potential successor to join Orbán and Kaczyński. That would be a misfortune for Poland and a deception of the democrats. The direction must be diametrically different. But if one wants a democratic, liberal, European Poland, one must, contrary to the power of nostalgia, draw radical conclusions from the radical change that has occurred around. Only Tusk 5.0 will win! If he exists." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25578552,tusk-5-0-pilnie-potrzebny.html -- BIEDROŃ – A DAMAGED LEFT-WING STAR – Łukasz Rogojsz in Gazeta.pl: "A year ago, Robert Biedroń was the ideal presidential candidate for the entire left. But a lot of time has passed since then, and a lot has changed in Biedroń's political life. Not necessarily for the better. Today, he still has potential, but also problems with credibility and presidential 'format.' The Left plans to rebuild him." -- SPRING'S TROUBLES: "Among the more serious issues, three matters should certainly be mentioned. The first is the confusion surrounding the MEP mandate, which Biedroń promised to give up (if he won) before the European elections, which he ultimately did not do. His political credibility suffered greatly from this. Biedroń's political plans were also not helped by the increasing ambiguities surrounding Spring's finances. Ambiguities that the party has never convincingly explained to voters and which, thanks to the unification with the SLD, it will no longer have to." -- BIEDROŃ MUST GET RID OF INFANTILISM: "– For example, Biedroń and his partner's recent activity on Twitter in the context of the presidential nomination shows that this is a significant challenge. Biedroń must get rid of the infantilism that is completely unfitting for the office of the President of the Republic of Poland – says one of Biedroń's former close associates." http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25577625,biedron-popsuty-gwiazdor-lewicy-odbudujemy-roberta-jego.html -- SE ON A POLL COMMISSIONED BY THE LEFT, IN WHICH BIEDROŃ IS THIRD: "45% support for President Andrzej Duda, 23% for KO candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, 12% for the Left candidate Robert Biedroń – these are the results of the first presidential poll commissioned by the Left, which "Super Express" obtained access to." https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/6418059,sondaz-prezydencki-lewica-biedron.html -- SE QUOTES FATHER TADEUSZ RYDZYK COMPLIMENTING ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO: "– I wanted to thank the prosecutor. I look at the situation in Poland and in the world and I think that the homeland is the highest good. Private and personal interests do not count. You cannot jump off a sinking ship, because we will all sink with it – Rydzyk emphasized. – I wish you a lot of strength. We should pray and support such people. Those who humiliate the minister in such a way act shamefully. The opposition should also reflect. When I look at the Senate, they don't make laws, they just travel and do who knows what. Are these educated people, university graduates? – the cleric got agitated." https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/nagly-telefon-od-rydzyka-wszystkim-podskoczylo-cisnienie-ziobro-musial-tego-sluchac-aa-ZrdT-pusK-DeEH.html -- SŁAWOMIR SIERAKOWSKI IN THE GUARDIAN ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TUSK AND ORBÁN AND THAT FIDESZ SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE EPP: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/07/donald-tusk-europe-viktor-orban-european-parliament -- BIRTHDAYS: Mieczysław Gil, Marek Belka, Konstanty Radziwiłł, Michał Szułdrzyński (turning 40!)