-- PRIME MINISTER STRONG ON RUSSIA, PiS RECALLED BIEJAT - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/01/16/ -- COMMISSION FLIPPED THE TABLE AND SURPRISED PiS - MAŁGORZATA KRYSZKIEWICZ AND GRZEGORZ OSIECKI IN DGP: “The Polish authorities, PiS, and the president are, however, determined to implement the law. From Andrzej Duda's circle, one hears that paradoxically, the Commission's behavior may strengthen the government's mandate in judicial matters. – People will understand that Brussels opposes punishing judges for disciplinary offenses – says a person from the Presidential Palace”. -- DGP WRITES THAT GREATER LEGAL CHAOS AWAITS US: “What then, if the government actually fails to make the appropriate changes in the law after the CJEU issues its interim measure, and consequently the SN's Disciplinary Chamber continues its adjudicatory activities? Lawyers have no doubts – the legal chaos would be even greater than it is now. If the SN continues to issue rulings, despite the CJEU's order to suspend this chamber, we will be dealing with anarchy. Judges will not recognize rulings issued by an organ that is not a court. They will not have legal force – explains Judge Morawiec”. https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/6422599,pis-konflikt-tsue-gersdorf.html -- WITHDRAWING FROM JUDICIAL LAWS IS ALSO A SIGNAL TO PiS ELECTORATE THAT THE CASTA IS HOLDING STRONG AND ALLEGIANCES MUST BE CLOSED - TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ: “What about PiS? It may not comply with the interim measure, but it is rather unlikely that it will ultimately ignore the CJEU's ruling. It is worth remembering that the CJEU will not abolish the Chamber on its own, but it will order changes to the regulations in Poland and remove inconsistencies with EU law. PiS has already complied with such an order, even preemptively, when it came to the Supreme Court act. In this way, the matter will return to square one. It is also worth remembering that in PiS's political logic, withdrawing from judicial laws does not have to be treated as a defeat. On the contrary, it is a stronger signal to the electorate that the 'caste' is still holding strong and allegiances need to be closed”. https://www.rp.pl/Sedziowie-i-sady/301159875-Tomasz-Pietryga-czekajac-na-wyrok.html -- PREDECESSORS WERE ABLE TO BUILD CONSENSUS AND THERE WERE NO QUARRELS OVER FOREIGN POLICY - TOMASZ SIEMONIAK in an interview with RZ: “He has not convened the National Security Council for 3.5 years. How is it possible that all his predecessors, from different parties, were able to build this consensus and there were no quarrels in Poland over the military, security policy, or missions – there was agreement? President Duda has destroyed this agreement. Even in a situation where – in my opinion – he would have benefited by inviting opposition leaders, showing that there are moments when we all sit together, like President Kaczyński in 2014 – he came to the National Security Council, he came to Prime Minister Tusk's meeting”. -- POLITICS REQUIRES SUBSTANCE, NOT GESTURES - SIEMONIAK CONTINUES: “Words, words, words. Such a gesture… of course, I sat in the front row with pleasure and shook his hand, because I have nothing personal against Andrzej Duda, but it's not enough. Politics requires substance, agreement. Prime Minister Morawiecki has also spoken many times about agreement, about understanding; we hear that it is because of the opposition that Banaś is still the president of NIK. Was there any proposal for a meeting, a draft law?” -- I DO NOT HAVE AN AUTOCRATIC NATURE - SIEMONIAK CONTINUES: “I really want to talk with club leader Borys Budka and other people about how to conduct this work so that everyone feels like a subject. I do not have an autocratic nature. I want to talk, work out solutions, and give space to different people. That is our wealth. Civic Platform, where the leader is a dictator, will not function well. There are leader-centric parties where the leader sits and invents things. We have never been such a party”. https://www.rp.pl/Platforma-Obywatelska/301159879-Siemoniak-Poradzimy-sobie-z-sukcesja-w-partii.html -- PRESIDENT DA FALLS IN CONFIDENCE POLLS, BUT THIS IS AN IBRIS SURVEY: “President Andrzej Duda enjoys the highest public trust, but he is achieving his weakest result in nearly a year. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska are in the next places in the ranking. Marshal of the Senate Tomasz Grodzki notes a significant increase in trust, and Szymon Hołownia notes distrust – according to a survey conducted by IBRiS for Onet”. https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/sondaz-ibris-dla-onetu-politycy-ktorym-ufaja-polacy/e09hn2s -- ON WHY PO WAS SO SLOW TO DEFEND GRODZKI - ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ IN GAZETA.PL: “Why did Civic Coalition not undertake such initiatives earlier? Our interlocutors – both from KO and the Senate Chancellery – primarily cite one reason – the Platform's leadership elections. The largest opposition party is currently focused on internal electoral battles. Until the campaign ends, there will be no change in priorities”. -- ROGOJSZ QUOTES A PO POLITICIAN: “The Platform is not bending over backward to defend Grodzki, because everyone is preoccupied with internal elections today. If we let Kidawa-Błońska's campaign slide, why be surprised that the same happened with Grodzki? – asks a Civic Coalition politician rhetorically. The Platform will rush to Grodzki's defense, but after January 25th, i.e., after the election of a new leader. They will not let a hair fall from his head. But first, the party needs to be organized from within – he adds”. -- WE WON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS WITH HANKA - ANOTHER PLATFORM POLITICIAN IN ROGOJSZ'S ARTICLE: “However, no one in the Platform is thinking about replacing Grodzki or leaving him to the mercy of PiS. We will not leave him; the Platform will go through fire for him. This is not a situation like years ago with Hanka (Gronkiewicz-Waltz – editor's note), where we supported her, but there was also a cool calculation, and at some point, we let her go. That is out of the question here – we hear from one of the former PO campaign strategists. – We will defend him fiercely. He is the third person in the state, our biggest current asset in real politics, and besides, he is doing a good job in the Senate – adds the politician”. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25602191,po-murem-za-grodzkim-nie-zostawimy-go-platforma-pojdzie-za.html -- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI: IT IS STILL UNCLEAR IN WHAT WAY THE PLATFORM'S OFFER IS IMPROVED - he writes in GW: “Fragments of truth that are worth openly and clearly admitting are a bridge on which the opposition can meet with a part of the pro-democratic voters of the United Right. Such a meeting is more promising than constantly bombarding oneself and everyone around with the authorities' injustices and blunders. Everyone already knows that, in the opposition's opinion, PiS is generally bad. Condemning further excesses will not change much here. It is still unclear, however, in what sense – beyond personnel changes – the Platform's offer has become better now than when voters voted against it for PiS. This must be stated strongly and clearly so that new offices gain new votes that will change the government”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25602361,dlaczego-dobrzy-ludzie-glosuja-na-zlych-politykow.html -- GW ON THE FRONT PAGE ABOUT CZARNECKI'S RECORDING: “Getting into the car, Czarnecki does not turn off the device. He calls someone and says: 'I'll tell you, I was on another planet.' For prosecutor Paweł Leksa, who is investigating the KNF corruption case, this short sentence is very important. He writes about this in the indictment against Chrzanowski: The credibility of Leszek Czarnecki's testimony is further indicated by evidence unknown at the time he filed the notification, namely a recorded fragment of his phone conversation. Immediately after leaving the KNF, where he spontaneously says to his interlocutor: 'I'll tell you, I was on another planet.'”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25603484,wyborcza-ujawnia-nieznane-nagranie-w-aferze-knf.html -- OF THE PRINT MEDIA, ONLY GW WRITES TODAY ABOUT THE OKO PUBLICATION. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25600329,autocenzura-i-konsultacje-z-patrycja-kotecka-oko-press-opisuje.html -- WIRTUALNA POLSKA ISSUED A STATEMENT REGARDING THE OKO PUBLICATION: “Wirtualna Polska Media receives the article by the OKO.press service regarding the work of WP's editor-in-chief and our journalists with surprise. The article consists of lies, half-truths, and slanders. The facts are that Wirtualna Polska does not favor any politician. It also does not favor Zbigniew Ziobro, which is the main thesis of the publication. This is evidenced by analyses from the independent Media Monitoring Institute”. https://dlaprasy.wp.pl/pr/480161/oswiadczenie-w-sprawie-publikacji-oko-press -- BARTOSZ WĘGLARCZYK FOR PRESS COMMENTS ON THE OKO.PRESS INVESTIGATION: “Bartosz Węglarczyk emphasizes that this critical publication about WP appears at a time when the journalistic profession is treated with less and less respect. – Public trust in this profession is declining, journalistic standards in Poland are faltering, and this story is another big stone thrown into all our yards. I believe this is a very sad day not only for Wirtualna Polska but for the media in Poland in general – adds the head of Onet”. https://www.press.pl/tresc/60040,szefowie-mediow-komentuja-powiazania-wp-z-ministerstwem-sprawiedliwosci -- OKO ON KRZYSZTOF SUWART AS A FICTITIOUS JOURNALIST: “As we revealed in our article, 'Krzysztof Suwart' is a made-up name. It was used to sign laudatory texts agreed upon with companies, State Treasury companies, or the Ministry of Justice, which real journalists did not want to sign. There are many such articles. They were published on the websites of WP and the portal money.pl, owned by the same owner. Within a few hours of our publication, Suwart became a symbolic figure and the hero of many jokes”. https://oko.press/wirtualna-polska-odpowiada-na-artykul-oka/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Georgette Mosbacher, Radomir Szumełda, Lech Jaworski, Magda Zdort, Dariusz Lasocki, Katarzyna Kopacz-Petranyuk.