-- EMILEWICZ ON OPENING BORDERS IN MID-JUNE, BIELAN ON PLATFORMA BEING ABLE TO THANK SOME POROZUMIENIE POLITICIANS, TRZASKOWSKI ON THE ROLE OF ARBITRATOR - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/05/18/ -- THE PRIME MINISTER THIS WEEK FOCUSES ON PROMOTING THE SHIELD AND MEETINGS WITH ENTREPRENEURS: “This week, the Prime Minister is focusing on promoting the Shield and further meetings with entrepreneurs who have received aid to protect jobs and their competitive position,” 300POLITYKA learns from Mateusz Morawiecki's associates. As we hear, the head of government will participate in two major events concerning the Shield – the first one already on Tuesday. We have seen a spot showing the scale of the PFR Shield and a voice from a family business the Prime Minister visited last week." https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/05/17/tarcza-w-obronie-polskich-firm-polska-uniknela-spirali-bezrobocia-uratujemy-3-mln-miejsc-pracy-premier-w-tym-tygodniu-stawia-na-rozmowe-z-przedsiebiorcami-a-kprm-publikuje-spot-pokazujac/ -- MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON THE PUBLIC OBLIGATIONS OF PRIVATE BROADCASTERS - THEY HAVE GAINED A DE FACTO ADVERTISING MONOPOLY: “The supporters of Trzaskowski’s approach will reply, as they have already done several times, that firstly, TVP is a public broadcaster, and secondly, in their opinion, it's going too far. Let me explain: TVN and other major stations are also public broadcasters in a way, because they benefit from a great concessionary privilege; on this gift, they built their power. They also benefit from advertising monopolies. Secondly, pluralism is not about one side of a political dispute defining the messages of the other side. The essence of the current public television's existence is that it gives a voice to those who were previously unlawfully deprived of it through various tricks”. -- KARNOWSKI ON TRZASKOWSKI'S WORDS - HIS CAMP IS PLANNING AN ATTACK ON PLURALISM: “Let's remember this sentence: 'Hurry to ask questions, because you have only a few weeks left.' It could have just as well been said by a Bolshevik, a National Socialist, a Putinist, a representative of the Venezuelan regime. It was said by Mr. Trzaskowski – supposedly a model democrat. Trzaskowski uttered an important, symbolic sentence. He confirmed that freedom of speech and pluralism are not self-evident, and that his camp is planning an attack on these values”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/500603-trzaskowski-ujawnil-plan-zamachu-po-na-polska-wolnosc -- RADIO TRÓJKA ENDS AS IT BEGAN IN 1982 - AS A SPECIAL OPERATION DESIGNED TO SHIFT SENTIMENT IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “One could say: Radio Trójka is ending as it began in 1982. As a special operation. An operation designed to shift social sentiment, especially among young people, in one direction or another. An operation that was meant to capitalize on the departure of those who wanted to leave anyway, because the decision had already been made by the community. Finally, an operation designed to present the last truly free debate in Europe as a 'country of censorship.' -- ENTERING THIS GAME WAS A MISTAKE - KARNOWSKI ON TRÓJKA'S MANAGEMENT'S ACTIONS: “But it must also be said that entering this game was a mistake. PiS won in 2019 partly because it did not accept the opposition's daily invitations to become a regime. It chose the right path of evasion and pretending not to see these provocations. There is no reason to deviate from this proven path now, especially in a clash that cannot be won”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/500548-radiowa-trojka-konczy-tak-jak-zaczela-operacja-specjalna -- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON PIŚ'S MISTAKES, WHICH COULD HAVE SHOWN THE APPEARANCE OF DUDA'S INDEPENDENCE - as she writes in GW: “If PiS had been smart, it would have used the operation to postpone the voting date to create the appearance of the head of state’s independence and autonomy: Andrzej Duda would have been the father of a compromise with the opposition and the demiurge who prevented a serious political and constitutional crisis. That should be the role of the president as an arbitrator and guardian of the constitution. But Andrzej Duda had no say. Everything was decided at Nowogrodzka without his involvement. He was an object, not a subject of actions”. -- THE CHOICE OF MANOWSKA WILL BE PRESENTED AS A COMPROMISE - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES: “This is more of a game of appearances, because in reality, the decisions in the PiS camp – in agreement with Ziobro and Duda – have already been made. The first president of the Supreme Court is to be Professor Małgorzata Manowska, former Deputy Minister of Justice in the PiS government. She is a lawyer respected in her field for her knowledge, not as radical as the young legal wolves from Ziobro’s pack, but skeptical of the ECJ rulings and the famous Supreme Court resolution denying the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court the status of a court. This will be presented as a compromise, because the president could have appointed someone worse. And there is no shortage of worse people – even in the aforementioned Disciplinary Chamber”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25950262,teraz-duda-zacznie-udawac-czlowieka-kompromisu.html -- A NEW CANDIDATE SAVES PLATFORMA - AGATA KONDZIŃSKA AND IWONA SZPALA IN GW ON REACTIONS IN PIŚ: “In the corridors of the ruling camp, there is less underestimation of the KO's latest personnel proposal. – He is a more serious candidate than Kidawa-Błońska. We are already changing our strategy to adapt to the new reality – one of the campaign managers tells us. He estimates that the changes in the opposition party have saved it from political catastrophe and disintegration. – The May 10 elections would have meant that Szymon Hołownia would be second, internal settlements would begin in PO, and Grzegorz Schetyna would immediately raise his head. A new candidate saves and preserves the existing party structure – assesses a politician from Nowogrodzka”. -- ACCORDING TO A PIŚ POLITICIAN, BUDKA SHOULD SEND GOWIN A BOTTLE OF GOOD WINE - GW AUTHORS CONTINUE: “In his opinion, the Civic Coalition's decision is a blow to Jarosław Gowin, the leader of Porozumienie, which is part of Zjednoczona Prawica, and to the leader of the agrarian parties, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. – We all know they were conspiring together and that they gave KO a loophole to change the candidate when they insisted that there would be no May elections. Let Budka send a bottle of good wine to Gowin – adds our interlocutor”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25949226,pis-o-nominacji-trzaskowskiego-niech-budka-wysle-butelke-dobrego.html -- DO NOT ALLOW A SECOND ROUND - MICHAŁ KOLANKO IN RZ ON PIŚ'S STRATEGY: “However, the question arises whether Zjednoczona Prawica will respond to Trzaskowski's polarization strategy with polarization solely around the Civic Coalition candidate, or whether it will play to flatten the results of the other candidates, hoping that this way a second round will be avoided. As we hear from circles close to PiS, 'the stakes are very high, and a second round must not be allowed.' – Rafał Trzaskowski's defeat as the last hope of the liberals will be the nail in the coffin of this entire camp – says our well-informed interlocutor from PiS circles”. -- TRZASKOWSKI WILL NOT ADDRESS OPPOSITION CANDIDATES - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ ON PO'S STRATEGY: “PO assumes an active campaign for its candidate, who is meant to show that he is not a big-city politician. The KO candidate will not refer to his opposition rivals, focusing on a confrontation with Andrzej Duda. PO politicians are convinced: – We have no enemies on the opposition side”. https://www.rp.pl/Wybory-prezydenckie-2020/305179957-PO-zaczyna-kampanie-prezydencka-od-poczatku.html -- ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO CLAIMS THAT THE ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE A BREAKTHROUGH IN RELATIONS WITH BRUSSELS ENDED IN FAILURE - as he says in an interview with Michał and Jacek Karnowski in Sieci: "The replacement of Prime Minister Beata Szydło with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was intended, among other things, to reach an agreement with the European Union. There were also declarations from Commissioner Timmermans and President Juncker that an agreement was within reach. It ended with nothing. The EU did not budge even a centimeter, but it exploited the goodwill of the Polish government, its sincere desire for an agreement, to strengthen opposition circles, and also to further politicize the judiciary, which was given permission to engage in essentially political games. Hopes for a breakthrough in relations with the European Union through talks, concessions, and a suspension of changes turned out to be an illusion. The other side bluffed, played with loaded cards, and misled Prime Minister Morawiecki and the government by assuring for many months of their willingness to find a compromise. In reality, within the framework of a 'compromise,' we were offered complete capitulation. Brussels does not want to treat Poland, just like Hungary, honestly. This also shows that my circle is right in advocating for the consistent and firm implementation of good changes in the judiciary. If the consistency of implementing changes in the judiciary had been the same as in the case of the Constitutional Tribunal, we would have completed the reform of the common courts and the Supreme Court long ago". -- I WANT A STRONG REPUBLICAN PARTY - JAROSŁAW GOWIN IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAŁ KOLANKO IN RZ: “I am the leader of Porozumienie, a party that represents a rare combination in Polish politics of conservative values and economic liberalism. For over four years, I have also been one of the leaders of a camp that is profoundly rebuilding Poland. The last politician with such an ideological profile who left a strong mark on Polish reality was Zyta Gilowska. Now I want to bring together scattered conservative-liberal circles and build a strong republican party”. -- GOWIN ON ELECTIONS AT THE TURN OF JUNE AND JULY: “The project prepared by PiS and Porozumienie experts takes into account almost all opposition demands. Therefore, today I can say with full responsibility: the elections will take place at the turn of June and July”. -- GOWIN ON THE COMPROMISE OF THE RADIO: “I expect a clear stance from the National Media Council. A situation has arisen that compromises the radio's authorities. I will certainly raise this issue at the leadership forum of Zjednoczona Prawica”. -- GOWIN ON SUPPORT FOR DUDA'S CAMPAIGN: “As it turned out, together with Chairman Kaczyński, we can cooperate well even with serious differences of opinion. As for me, I am now concentrating on programmatic work related to fighting the epidemic and unfreezing the economy, on supporting Andrzej Duda's campaign, and on expanding Porozumienie”. https://www.rp.pl/Porozumienie/200519373-Gowin-Chce-mocnej-partii-republikanskiej.html -- WITOLD GADOMSKI CRITICIZES THE WAY KIDAWAS WAS DISPOSED OF - as he writes in GW: “Allegedly, PO leaders feared that Kidawa-Błońska's defeat in the first round would cause a rapid decline in the party's ratings, putting it on a slippery slope from which it would not recover. This was a real risk, but changing the candidate in these embarrassing circumstances will not improve the party's image. The political and moral cost of withdrawing the candidate will be enormous. This is not only evidence of the organizational and decision-making impotence of the Civic Platform's leadership, but also of questionable ethics”. -- THE PROBLEM OF THE PLATFORM IS THE LAZINESS OF ACTIVISTS LOOKING FOR POSITIONS IN THE PARTY - GADOMSKI CONTINUES: “The problem of the Civic Platform is not Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, but the lack of strong leadership, internal disputes, and above all, the laziness of a large part of its activists who are looking for 'positions' in the party, rather than the realization of an idea for Poland. These weaknesses of PO led to the defeat of a 'sure bet' like President Bronisław Komorowski in 2015. Repeated changes of PO leaders have not fixed anything in this party. The belief that something will improve in the party in the coming weeks before the elections is not based on strong premises”. -- I WOULD NOT MIND TRZASKOWSKI BEING THE MIDWIFE OF A SERIOUS PARTY - GADOMSKI'S CONCLUSION: “It is possible for both PiS and PO to break up, just as parties formed in the 1990s disappeared, but their electorate will not disappear. Moderate voters need a party that will clean up the mess left by the PiS governments and the coronavirus epidemic, restore the rule of law, and present a program for accelerating modernization. Will the Civic Platform still be such a party, or will a new grouping emerge after the presidential elections that will take over some of the KO activists and its electorate? Despite my doubts about Rafał Trzaskowski's chances in the election, I would not mind him becoming the midwife of such a grouping”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25951776,powazni-polacy-potrzebuja-powaznej-partii.html -- DGP WRITES ABOUT POSSIBLE DIFFICULTIES IN COLLECTING SIGNATURES: “Elżbieta Witek is holding back on publishing a new election calendar. According to our sources in PiS, she will most likely do so when it is known when the law leaves the Senate. If the Marshal published it today, she would have to resort to the current statutory deadlines, which would significantly delay the elections. Our sources in PiS do not hide that it is not only about electing a president before the current one's term ends. – I can imagine a scenario where Minister Szumowski, due to the pandemic, issues such stringent recommendations regarding the method of collecting signatures and forms of campaigning that Platform will not be able to cope with it in such a short time – admits one of our interlocutors”. https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1477261,wybory-prezydenckie-ii-tura-sondaz.html -- DGP ON A RETURN TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL TRIBUNAL VARIANT: “PiS is considering filing a motion with the Constitutional Tribunal regarding the electoral code. The motion could be filed there this week. It concerns the deadlines stipulated in the electoral code, which PiS would have to significantly shorten if it wanted to hold elections on June 28. – The Constitution gives the Marshal of the Sejm 60 days to call elections, and at the same time, the electoral code rigidifies these deadlines. This is an evident contradiction with the basic law, and its resolution would also be beneficial for the future. Therefore, we are considering filing such a motion – says Przemysław Czarnek, a PiS MP”. https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/artykuly/1476561,wybory-prezydenckie-zagrozone-zlamanie-prawa-daty-sie-nie-zgadzaja.html -- THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC MEDIA - S.P. Records label head Sławomir Pietrzak in conversation with Gazeta.pl: “Today, an unbelievable situation is occurring. It concerns, it would seem, a very ordinary, thoughtful song by Kazik, because it is not an iconoclastic song or one that would take away someone's honor. It is a song in which Kazik did not agree with a certain situation. All the fuss around this might completely blow up public radio and will likely be the beginning of the demolition of public media, simply”. -- YOU'VE SEEN ONE OF THE DELICACIES, NOW YOU'LL SEE MORE - CONTINUES THE HEAD OF THE LABEL RELEASING KAZIK: “Of course. I'm not saying it will be a political album – Kazik is who he is, and he will always be political in some way. Without revealing any details, I will say this: in my opinion, it is one of Kazik's best albums. I had the pleasure of playing with him on '12 Groszy' and I believe that after that album, this is an album that has a chance to be very interesting and absolutely unique for the audience. There will certainly be comments on recent events. You have already seen one of the delicacies, now you will see more”. https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,114526,25952726,burza-w-trojce-slawomir-pietrzak-o-nadchodzacej-plycie-kazika.html -- PIŚ MOCKS REPORTS ON INCOMPLETE DEMOCRACY, BUT WILL THE DIRECTOR OF TRÓJKA BE DISMISSED? - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “In the recently published Freedom House report 'Nations in Transit' for 2019, Poland for the first time fell below the threshold of so-called consolidated democracies and was described as a semi-consolidated democracy, or in layman's terms: an incomplete democracy. PiS politicians discredit such rankings, but it is phenomena like the censorship of criticism of the authorities in public media that influence their results – the ruling party bears full responsibility for such a situation and can only blame itself. In the current situation, the answer is simple. Censorship cannot be accepted. The director of Trójka should be dismissed”. -- WITHOUT PATHOS, KAZIK SAID SOMETHING DANGEROUSLY TRUE - THE RULING PARTY IS MORE EQUAL - SAWCZUK CONTINUES IN KL: “Kazik should be congratulated – his success lies in the fact that, without pathos and grand words, he said something dangerously true. Although in a democracy everyone should have equal rights, Kaczyński's privilege makes it clear that in practice, the ruling party is more equal”. https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/05/18/sawczuk-w-poniedzialek-lista-przebojow-prezesa-jest-lepsza-niz-twoja/ -- WE ARE NOW SEEING HOW THE EU BORROWS FROM CORPORATIONS AND PRIVATE HEALTHCARE HAS REPLACED PUBLIC ONE - TOMASZ MARKIEWKA, AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK “WRATH” IN CONVERSATION WITH MAREK SZYMANIAK IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “Yes, we are now seeing how the European Union is borrowing billions of dollars from corporations, and private healthcare has replaced public healthcare. This is, of course, absurd. It is exactly the opposite. It is not billionaires who help states, but states that help their companies survive. This is another manifestation of religious faith, blind to what is happening around us; all one needs to do is stop praying to the free-market idol and look around”. -- MARKIEWKA SPEAKS OF THE ADVENT OF LEPPER 2.0: “Yes, and then Lepper appeared. Then the right came up with the idea of taking over this anger, and thus the PiS narrative of a solidary Poland versus a liberal one was born, and then of a Poland in ruins that needed to be fixed after the PO government. In a moment, we will have a lot of angry people who have lost their jobs or had to close their companies. I fear that we will repeat this pattern once again, and some Lepper 2.0 will appear, only in a worse version, with the worst obsessions of the contemporary Polish right wing under the banner of Konfederacja”. https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/gniew-ksiazka-markiewka-koronawirus/ -- PAIN AND WRATH WILL SPREAD ACROSS POLAND - ANDAM SZOSTKIEWICZ: “With every million views of the film online, pain and wrath will spread across Poland. But there will also be attacks and protests under the usual slogan that the Church is being attacked again, and the authors here and there have made a mistake, and in reality, they are making politics out of human drama. I think the Sekielskis are prepared for this and will cope. And 'if these are silent, the stones will cry out.'”. https://szostkiewicz.blog.polityka.pl/2020/05/17/sekielscy-znow-na-medal-od-franciszka/?nocheck=1 -- PHOTO. Melancholia I by Albrecht Dürer is one of the most famous masterpieces of Renaissance art. It is currently in the collection of the Albertina Gallery in Vienna. "This mysterious engraving, created in 1514, expresses both the artist's anxiety and doubt in intellectual strength, while at the same time being full of faith that only this intellectual force, which enslaves the artist, has the power to create a work. It thus contradicts itself, incapacitates, but also elevates beyond the ordinary… The dominant figure in the composition is undoubtedly the woman – an angel and a genius in one. Dressed in a thick, draped gown; sitting on the right side of the painting, she holds a compass in her hand, while her left hand supports her head, adorned with a wreath. Her feathered wings seem to weigh her down, not ready for flight. On the woman's lap is a book, at her waist hangs a pouch and a bunch of useless keys. The figure is massive, strong, heavy – like all the figures Dürer created – the Angel of Melancholy is therefore static, powerless, sluggish, and devoid of energy. The gesture of supporting her head with her left hand, with a clenched fist, intensifies the feeling of sadness and contemplation. This gesture can be found in the rich medieval iconography of figures in a state of melancholy, e.g., Saturn, but it is also repeated by the biblical Job, Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, the Foolish Virgins, or the Sorrowful Christ. The clenched, concentrated hand seems to cup the cheek, trying to offer solace, but also vainly conceals hidden despair. Among the animate beings, the noticeably emaciated, solitary dog stands out, which has just curled up into a ball, and its huddled silhouette highlights the monstrosity of countable ribs and extremely sinewy limbs. Is the dog suffering, sick, perhaps dying? As is known, it is a very sensitive animal, prone to mood swings, but also possessing great intelligence, which is why it was sometimes used in medieval art as an attribute of a scholar. At the same time, the dog is vigilant, strongly senses emotions, but is also subject to the influence of celestial bodies, especially the moon, hence, like humans, it can be threatened with a loss of senses. Besides the dog, a flying bat, placed in the upper left of the composition, also becomes an important animal here. The bat symbolizes darkness, the darkness of body and spirit, it lives at night, and therefore is associated with everything that is unsettling, undiscovered, secret, and gloomy, but it can also be associated with the night work of a scholar, with nocturnal creative activity". https://niezlasztuka.net/o-sztuce/albrecht-durer-melancholia/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Bogdan Zdrojewski, Edyta Kazikowska-Gręda, Paweł Poncyljusz.