-- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A JUDGE "INCAPABLE OF RULING" IN POLISH LAW - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: “We are treading on shaky ground. Indeed, there is no certainty whether the Constitutional Tribunal has the right to block resolutions of the Supreme Court. We have never practiced anything like a "competency dispute"; any lawyer can spin any interpretation here. But the Supreme Court's right to adopt such a fundamental resolution is also questionable. There is no concept of a judge "incapable of ruling" in the Polish legal system. -- MOST LAWYERS INVOLVED IN POLITICAL DISPUTE - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “The Supreme Court derives it from the assessment of the law under which the National Council of the Judiciary was appointed, as being contrary to the constitution. The point is that in Poland, ordinary courts are not authorized to rule on this. This is the domain reserved for the Constitutional Tribunal. One can dislike Mrs. Przyłębska's Tribunal. One can question the presence of "duplicate judges" there. But that changes nothing. The constitution would have to be amended. Of course, most lawyers in Poland say otherwise. Because they are involved in the political dispute. The belief that since a court has said something, it must be so, is based on false premises. Courts in our legal system must indicate the legal basis for their decisions, not create norms out of thin air.” -- NOT EVEN TRUMPIAN AMERICA UNDERSTOOD PIS'S CURIOUS IDEAS - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “Here, the right wing did everything to present their change as being against someone, revolutionary. This is not how an objective, non-political judiciary is built. Hence such curious ideas as removing the Supreme Court. Something that was not understood even in Trumpian America, because there, a judge's term is sacred. Hence the absurd witch hunts against the entire judicial community. A country will not be governed by the rule of law where judges are pointed at by the political authorities at public expense.” -- SOON POLES AND THE PRESIDENT WILL START BLAMING EACH OTHER FOR THE CHAOS IN THE COURTS - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “This vicious cycle should be broken. This is a path to nowhere. Compromise is not a whim in this case, but a burning necessity – in the face of a situation where Polish judgments will be questioned abroad, and potential investors will say that there is no so-called legal certainty in Poland. I don't know if the anti-judge crusade will strengthen Andrzej Duda's chances in the presidential elections, or if, on the contrary, Poles will soon start blaming him for the chaos in the courts. I know that finding a way out of this predicament is a matter of state and moral duty – I am writing this on the eve of the round table convened by the Polish Academy of Sciences.” -- NEITHER SIDE SEEMS CAPABLE OF TRANSCENDING ITSELF - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “It is not easy. The Jagiellonian Club proposed a zero option – choosing both the Constitutional Tribunal and the National Council of the Judiciary again with a qualified majority. That is, giving the opposition influence over these compositions as well. PiS would have to stop treating these bodies as its loot. But in turn, the opposition would have to give up the position that only a purely corporate model of appointing judges is legitimate. Neither one side nor the other seems capable of such self-transcendence today. Especially since the pool of acceptable lawyers for everyone is becoming increasingly empty.” https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-jestesmy-bliscy-sadowej-katastrofy/ar/c1-14753206 -- PIS REALIZES THE JUDICIARY ISSUE IS HARMING THE PRESIDENT - AGATA KONDZIŃSKA IN GW: “In PiS, it is increasingly heard that the dispute with the courts will harm Duda in the election campaign. – It is clear that this mobilizes the opposition electorate, and the parliamentary elections already showed that there is more of it than ours. In the presidential elections, this can decide the outcome, because Duda will not win with our electorate alone – analyzes a PiS politician. – What we have done with the courts holds the entire ruling camp in a vice. And it has gotten out of control, because people have started talking about the courts on the street, and that is already dangerous for us – tells us a close associate of the Prime Minister.” -- WE WILL GET TO THE ELECTION OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME COURT - A PiS POLITICIAN IN KONDZIŃSKA'S ARTICLE: “However, there are many voices in the ruling camp saying that the party has gone too far and has no idea how to get out of this situation. – We cannot back down, because there is nowhere to go. We would have to dissolve the National Council of the Judiciary, and that is not possible – concludes a PiS politician.” Another sketches this scenario: – The President will sign the latest judiciary law, and then we will get to the election of the first president of the Supreme Court. That is crucial for us.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25650389,pis-ws-sadow-sie-nie-cofnie-ale-przyznaje-sprawa-szkodzi.html -- PIS KNOWS IT'S WRONG - MAGDALENA GRZYB IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “PiS politicians, including Zbigniew Ziobro himself and his loyal deputy ministers, are fully aware that they are wrong, and their arguments in the so-called "dispute over the judiciary" are weak even for someone without legal education. This is partly shown by the results of a poll for "Dziennik. Gazeta Prawna", in which only 22 percent of respondents considered the president and the government to be right in the dispute, while 51 percent thought it was on the side of the Supreme Court (24 percent did not know which side to take). This clearly shows that Ziobro's arguments do not convince even supporters of PiS itself. And for a moderately intelligent lawyer, the authorities' arguments are pure nonsense. Therefore, repeating, for lack of legal arguments, that this is what the people want, that this is the will of society – since even PiS voters themselves do not want this – is simply an inept conjuring of reality.” -- PIS WILL NOT BACK DOWN - GRZYB CONTINUES IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Regardless of how weak PiS's arguments are and how serious the consequences of implementing the plan to pacify judicial independence are, Jarosław Kaczyński's party will not back down. Some right-wing voters may not fully like what PiS is doing with the courts, but many certainly like that PiS is consistent. Because it is precisely this consistency – stubbornly "pushing through" their ideas and "reforms" (like the unfortunate education reform) against the "screams" of international institutions and the opposition – that is the strength of Law and Justice. A huge part of PiS's electorate is most impressed not by 500+, but by this attitude.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/01/30/grzyb-sadownictwo-ustawa-kagancowa-komentarz/ -- DELICATELY SPEAKING, SCHETYNA'S TEAM DID NOT DESERVE FOND MEMORIES - JOANNA MUCHA IN CONVERSATION WITH AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK IN OKO: “Around him, a team of ideological, younger people has already formed, who also have a great sense of politics, skills in political marketing, and in formulating a vision. I think that is the most important thing. A leader is judged by results – in this case, it is too early for that – and by the team they gather around them. The team assembled around Grzegorz Schetyna, to put it mildly, did not deserve fond memories.” -- MUCHA ON NEW NARRATIVE BLOCKS - TELLS AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK: “We have to do two things at once, which is difficult. We cannot be anti-PiS, but we must correctly label what PiS is doing. We must say that they are stealing our future. They are stealing our development opportunities, our European path, our environment, even directly – our lifespan. They steal so literally, when speaking of elite exchange – they are building their own oligarchy. We must show that this is a path towards the so-called eastern democracies. On the other hand, we must show people an alternative. Reclaim the center, i.e., those who currently support PiS because they think it is a centrist, reasonably normal party. We must show them that there is an offer for them. This offer is an efficient, friendly state that can take care of those in need. Our electorate, i.e., the middle class, the intelligentsia, wants such a state, demands such a change from us. The state must be able to create conditions for development for talented individuals who drive the state's development. We must successfully implement these two narrative blocks simultaneously.” -- PART OF THE PIS ELECTORATE CAN BE WON BACK - MUCHA CONTINUES IN OKO: “And I think that about 25% of the electorate stands behind PiS. These are people deeply rooted in the belief that the state should be strong, that when you gain power, you can even abuse it a little, that a state official can appropriate something. For these people, hierarchy is normal and desirable, and the one at the top can disregard the one at the bottom. There is a group of people who think this way. Not only in Poland, but in every society. Even when studying Scandinavian societies, some people hold such beliefs. Here, I estimate this group to be 20%, at most 25%. The rest of PiS's current electorate are people who were swayed by social programs, and at the same time are hardened in their choice by the Church and public media. But this is a group that can be won back. They can be convinced that the authorities are leading them into a dead end, that they are heading towards a place that is a threat to them.” -- MUCHA ON KRASTEV AND THE CIVIC INSTITUTE: “Many names come to mind, I read a lot of publicistic works, and the first names that come to mind are publicists, e.g., Ivan Krastev. Such an institute must be interdisciplinary by definition; in every field, we must look for people with whom we will cooperate. It's a big task, but I will gladly take it on.” https://oko.press/joanna-mucha-jest-do-odzyskania-grupa-centrowych-wyborcow-pis/ -- WHAT AFTER EUROPE? - KRASTEV'S BOOK PUBLISHED BY KRYTYKA: https://wydawnictwo.krytykapolityczna.pl/co-po-europie-iwan-krastew-461 -- ARCHIVED INTERVIEW BY KRYTYKA WITH KRASTEV: https://krytykapolityczna.pl/swiat/ue/krastew-co-po-europie/ -- VICTORY IS NEAR - CLAIMS GRZEGORZ SCHETYNA - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/01/31/ -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON "WHAT WAS HAPPENING" AT JULIA PRZYŁĘBSKA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY: “There was a legendary meeting, Julia Przyłębska's 60th birthday party at the end of last year. Apparently, a lot was happening there. I am awaiting a response from the Tribunal as to whether President Jarosław Kaczyński was present. You don't have to tell me if he had a good time. (...) The information about the meeting was denied by the Constitutional Tribunal. – We categorically state that such a meeting did not take place – Aleksandra Wójcik, press spokesperson for the Constitutional Tribunal, informed the WP portal. – Paradoxically, I am happy about it – replies Andrzej Stankiewicz, who stands by his information. – I have requested the Tribunal to provide a list of Julia Przyłębska's meetings with Jarosław Kaczyński. – If they start commenting on the private meetings of the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, I expect them to present it – he adds. Incidentally, he reveals another "secret" in the relationship between Kaczyński and Przyłębska. The PiS leader allegedly attended her 60th birthday party.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/kaczynski-na-urodzinach-przylebskiej-stankiewicz-w-podcascie-stan-po-burzy/l0kb3c7 -- ONET POLL SHOWS HOŁOWNIA WOULD BE THE TOUGHEST OPPONENT FOR THE INCUMBENT PRESIDENT: “The President would receive 49% of the votes, and Kidawa-Błońska 42%. In a duel between Duda and Kosiniak-Kamysz, the votes would be divided 47% to 42%. However, the case of Duda - Hołownia is the most interesting. The President would then receive 44%, and the Catholic publicist only one percentage point less – 43%.” -- FIRST ROUND ACCORDING TO ONEW'S SURVEY: “The first poll by Maison & Partners was published by Onet: President Duda wins it (38.3% support), Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska from KO is second (22.3%), and Szymon Hołownia, an independent candidate (10.9%), takes the third spot on the podium. In addition, the field is completed by: Robert Biedroń from Lewica (9%), Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz from PSL (6.3%), and Krzysztof Bosak from Konfederacja (3.2%).” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25650626,wybory-prezydenckie-2020-duda-prowadzi-z-holownia-w-ii-turze.html -- I AM NOT TUSK'S HIDDEN PLAN - SZYMON HOŁOWNIA IN CONVERSATION WITH JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “Those who believed in this project saw in it a real change, that something could happen in a sphere that seemed bétoned to them until now. There is no big capital behind it, no party energy. This is not a hidden plan of Donald Tusk, Polish millionaires, or anyone else.” -- IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO BUILD A NON-PARTY MAJORITY - HOŁOWNIA CONTINUES: “I will try very hard to collect as many signatures as possible. This is about unleashing a certain energy, building a social movement. These are the only elections where a person who does not have party structures behind them can come and say: – Listen, we need to form a completely new political majority. It may be possible to build a non-party majority or one that groups voters from other parties who have previously placed their trust elsewhere.” -- MAYBE AFTER MAY WE WILL HAVE TO REACH FOR OTHER TOOLS - HOŁOWNIA ANSWERS NIZINKIEWICZ'S QUESTION ABOUT BUILDING A PARTY: “That is a very difficult question, because our goal now is to win the presidential elections, we have no other. It is a simple story about a man who enters a workshop, sees work to be done, and now he must take the tool at hand, which is running for president. After May, the situation will be different, and perhaps we will have to reach for other tools. One thing is certain – we cannot leave all the energy of the people, which I see now, traveling around Poland, talking to voters, I see how it awakens hope in them, how they open up; they come to meetings bruised, frustrated by the state of Polish affairs, and leave filled with hope – this cannot be left like that.” -- ELECTIONS WILL REDISTRIBUTE THE CARDS DIFFERENTLY - HOŁOWNIA AGAIN WITH NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “We will consider it, if such a scenario comes true. And it will not be an easy moment for me, because I truly believe in a non-party presidency. I have learned one important thing in these few months: that politics is not the art of making far-reaching plans, but the ability to react skillfully to the given situation. The elections on May 10th will redistribute the cards anew, and they will lie on the table quite differently than they do today.” https://www.rp.pl/Wybory-prezydenckie-2020/301309864-Szymon-Holownia-Nie-jestem-ukrytym-planem-Tuska.html -- THERE MAY BE MORE BREXITS - JĘDRZEJ BIELECKI IN RZ ON THE EU CRISIS: “But even though EU institutions are unable to effectively fulfill their assigned competencies, they strive for new ones, even though member states have not clearly delegated them. Poland experienced this, for example, in the case of the Vistula Spit canal, Spain in the case of the Catalan rebellion. When writing about rebellion against integration, Poland and Hungary are usually pointed to. But it is a broader phenomenon. Nordic countries most strongly opposed deepening the euro zone, in Italy a far-right leader who wants to leave the currency union could come to power at any moment. And the election of Marine Le Pen to the Élysée Palace in 2022 cannot be ruled out. The EU – unlike Brexit – could not survive this.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/301309887-Jedrzej-Bielecki-Brexitow-moze-bycwiecej.html -- ADAM MICHNIK ON BREXIT AND POLAND - ON THE FRONT PAGE OF GW: “Jarosław Kaczyński assures that he does not want to lead Poland out of the EU. Perhaps he declares it sincerely. However, the policy of the PiS leader and his team inevitably leads to it. Therefore, the upcoming presidential elections will be a plebiscite on whether we are for Poland's place in the European community, or whether a return to Vladimir Putin's yoke awaits us. This is also a lesson for the opposition in Poland. In the last elections, more votes fell on opponents of Kaczyński's party than on supporters. The Senate elections showed that it is possible to win against PiS. Poles must give themselves a chance. The road to Polexit and the destroyers of our state must be blocked. We must show that in a dispute with his wife, Norman Davies is right.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75399,25650336,brexit-lekcja-dla-polski.html#S.DT-K.C-B.3-L.2.maly