-- DWORCZYK ON UNFREEZING, TRZASKOWSKI BELIEVES IN KIDAWAS CHANCES - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/04/16/ -- MAŁGORZATA GERSDORF ON THE OLDEST SERVING PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME COURT TAKING OVER HER DUTIES - in an interview with Krzysztof Sobczak for prawo.pl: “There is no risk that the Supreme Court will be left without leadership. If no First President is appointed, then after my departure, pursuant to Article 14, paragraph 2 of the Act on the Supreme Court, the duties will be taken over by the president of an chamber with the longest tenure.” -- GERSDORF ON FEMALE CANDIDATES WHO COULD BE ACCEPTED BY THE PRESIDENT: “There is talk of judge Małgorzata Manowska from the Civil Chamber, that she might be nominated and then appointed by the president. Another potential candidate being discussed is Joanna Lemańska, the president heading the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs. Both are from the new recruitment to the Supreme Court, and both have solid professional and academic backgrounds, so at least in this regard, they have an advantage over a significant portion of the new judges.” -- GERSDORF ON MANOWSKA'S ADVANTAGES: “As I said, I have no reservations about their substantive preparation. Neither of them has been overtly involved, unlike some new judges, in the disputes surrounding the Supreme Court in recent years. However, both ladies share the ‘original sin’ of being appointed with the participation of the National Council of the Judiciary, which was appointed contrary to the constitution. Judge Manowska's advantage is that she is a judge; before being appointed to the Supreme Court, she adjudicated in the appellate court, so one can assume that she has internalized certain judicial traits and standards, that she wants to be an independent judge and knows how to be one.” https://www.prawo.pl/prawnicy-sady/wybor-i-prezesa-sn-zgromadzenie-sedziow-po-raz-kolejny-odwolane,499530.html -- ADDRESSING ALL CITIZEN INITIATIVES AT ONCE IS THE LEAST LOSS FOR PIS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “The MPs of PiS are divided on this matter. There are liberals who completely rule out changing the regulations, and Catholics who take their faith seriously and would do anything to tighten the current regulations by eliminating the so-called eugenic premise. No, I’m not talking about cynically saying that nothing matters, that everything is a political game. No. Worldview issues are extremely important. But the Sejm is currently dealing with them because it has to, not because it wants to. PiS put them on the agenda because the law governing citizen initiatives obliges them to do so, while simultaneously calculating that dealing with all of them at once will be the least, but still, a loss for them. Not a gain at all.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/200419522-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Aborcja-nie-chca-ale-musza.html -- MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON GOWIN'S INCONSISTENCY: “Let’s summarize. According to the leader of Porozumienie, the economy should restart as soon as possible, and democracy should remain suspended for as long as possible? We are to go to workplaces without delay (in masks), but we won’t get to our mailboxes (also in masks) for another month? What’s the point? What’s the logic? It’s weak.” -- OPENING THE WAY FOR OTHER CANDIDATES? WHAT LIES BEHIND THE CURTAIN - KARNOWSKI FURTHER: “So, perhaps it’s really about something else – for example, opening the path for oneself or someone else to run. For instance, by forcing the current list of candidates to be ‘deleted,’ which is also the opposition’s goal. Gowin, who is no longer in the government, might see himself in this pool now. Or – another variant to achieve the same goal – shortening President Andrzej Duda’s term to open up the possibility for himself to run with the support of the United Right. Such calculations are, of course, not a sin; a politician has the right to them. However, it’s good for the public to be able to discern such goals. And the crack in Gowin’s stance (economy yes, democracy no) indicates that something is hidden behind the curtain of this spectacle. Another option is simply getting trapped in flawed analysis, but frankly, I have serious doubts.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/495949-w-postawie-gowina-wobec-wyborow-jest-duze-pekniecie -- JACEK KARNOWSKI ON MAIL-IN ELECTIONS POSSIBLY FAVORING THE OPPOSITION: “Nothing is decided yet, and postal elections are a form of voting that favors the opposition (panic in cities is greater than in the countryside; if people had to go to polling stations, PiS would have a bonus). A second round is very likely. And in a second round, anything is possible; the result will inevitably bring it closer to 50-50 percent. Single percentage points will decide.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/495876-opozycja-stan-do-tej-walki-po-mesku-nie-jestes-bez-szans -- LEWICA AND PSL ARE FEEDING ON PLATFORM'S WALKVER - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “So, Lewica and PSL are feeding on walkovers (as the wavering stance of Kidawa-Błońska and the PO leadership effectively means) from Platforma, and who knows if in the long term this won’t cause a small earthquake on the opposition side. The entire situation and the developing dynamic are running parallel to a relative stabilization of PiS and President Andrzej Duda’s ratings – despite such gigantic challenges as the epidemic crisis, the economic crisis, or the organization of the elections. And that is also why the eventual decision to postpone the vote from May to August will not carry as much risk as one might have assumed just two weeks ago.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/495840-realny-walkower-ze-strony-kidawy-moze-pogrzebac-platforme -- BUDKA HAS NOT YET PROVED TO BE A MORE EFFECTIVE LEADER THAN SCHETYNA - FIJOŁEK AGAIN: “Borys Budka, for now, has not proven to be a more effective leader than Grzegorz Schetyna, nor has he changed the main reasons why Platforma and its candidate are drifting further and further towards 15 percent, not 35 percent. In private conversations, the Peasants’ Party members are quietly laughing about this, and Lewica shrugs their shoulders – in the end, they all have time and are taking full advantage of Platforma’s problems, even if they are officially wringing their hands. And Platforma politicians? Yes, they will certainly receive moral support, full of pathos and grand words, waiting for Poles to simply get tired of the current government and return to Platforma. That’s not how it works, however, and the failure to engage in political games is already backfiring on the largest opposition party, and this dynamic will likely only intensify.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/495991-dlaczego-opozycja-nawet-nie-probuje-podjac-gry-z-pis -- IF THIS IS NOT A DICTATORSHIP, IS THERE EVEN ONE BODY CAPABLE OF PUNISHING KACZYŃSKI? - JACEK ŻAKOWSKI IN GW: “If any of you are still wondering whether Poland is still a constitutional democracy or a state of law, or rather already a dictatorship (still mild, concerned with appearances and self-restraining, like late PRL), please point out to me one state body capable of punishing a Rank-and-File MP and his colleagues for unlawfully entering a cemetery and for violating mandatory distancing. And if there is any citizen in a country whom no body can punish in any proceeding and to whom no one can forbid anything, then (since Roman times) it is known that it concerns a dictatorship and its dictator. Especially when punishment is theoretically possible, but practically impossible.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25872264,czy-jestesmy-dyktatura-prosze-mi-wskazac-jeden-organ-zdolny.html -- DUDA MAY NOT BENEFIT FROM THIS FORM OF ELECTION - JOLANTA TURCZYNOWICZ-KIERYŁŁO IN AN INTERVIEW WITH WP: “Paradoxically, Andrzej Duda may not benefit from postal elections at all. Research indicates that in Switzerland, this voting method particularly motivated voters in large cities to cast their ballots. By sending the ballot paper home, we give the voter everything they need to make a decision. They don’t even have to go to the polling station. All barriers disappear, we weaken that feeling of ‘I don’t feel like voting,’ ‘I have no one to vote for,’ you can calmly think about it.” -- PLATFORMOWO TREATED KIDAWĘ LIKE A MARIONETTE - TURCZYNOWICZ AGAIN: “The opponents gave up the fight; they mistakenly assumed the elections wouldn't take place. If I were Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, I would fight to the end because even after losing the election, there's capital for the future from voter contact. And suddenly the slogan of boycotting the election appears. I was embarrassed when I saw her own camp distancing itself from her. When jokes and malicious remarks about her gaffes from that camp appeared. The moment Borys Budka pushed her away from the microphone, dictating how she should answer a journalist's question, was terrible. He behaved rudely, publicly treating Ms. Kidawa like a puppet. I have great dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with values, both in politics and in the campaign.” https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/wybory-prezydenckie-2020-byla-wspolpracownica-andrzeja-dudy-ujawnia-kulisy-kampanii-6500213859378817a -- ILONA ŁEPKOWSKA ON THE EMBARRASSMENT FROM TVP'S BROADCAST: “If anywhere, then in public television, they should know about my independence. They know that I didn’t have to watch TVN’s commentary to form an opinion about President Kaczyński’s visit to cemeteries. It’s not like poor little Ilonka was manipulated by TVN. That entire ‘Wiadomości’ report was like horrible propaganda. Bringing up Justyna Pochanke’s mother’s workplace… Aside from the inappropriateness of such accusations, it’s a double-edged sword. The current head of TVP was in the PZPR for 10 years. So what? Are we going to look into everyone’s biographies now? And even their families’ biographies?” https://kultura.onet.pl/film/wywiady-i-artykuly/czy-ilona-lepkowska-odejdzie-z-tvp-po-materiale-wiadomosci-wywiad/ln63npz -- REMINDER: 300POLITYKA PODCAST WITH PIOTR PATKOWSKI, WHO BECAME DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE: https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/09/21/300-on-air-kim-sa-ludzie-morawieckiego-kandydujacy-z-list-pis-pierwszy-podkast-300polityki/ -- PATKOWSKI, AS HEAD OF THE REGULATION DEPARTMENT AT KPR, PARTICIPATED IN A DISCUSSION ON STATES OF EMERGENCY ON 300POLITYKA: http://m.300polityka.pl/news/2020/04/07/od-kilku-dni-opozycja-domaga-sie-od-rzadu-wprowadzenia-jednego-ze-stanow-nadzwyczajnych-czy-rzeczywiscie-konstytucja-wymaga-jego-ogloszenia-analiza-dyrektora-departamentu-skutkow-regulacji-w-kance/ -- Photo: Supper at Emmaus - second version of Caravaggio's painting from the last stage of his work. It is located in the Pinacoteca Brera. The first version from 1601 is in the National Gallery in London. https://pinacotecabrera.org/en/collezione-online/opere/supper-at-emmaus/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Andrzej Poczobut, Piotr Zientarski, Karina Kostrzewa Dowgielewicz.