-- PRIME MINISTER IN A SPOT ADDRESSES THE NEW NORMAL, A VETERAN THANKS FOR STATE EFFICIENCY, PM ON THE LARGEST FUNDING IN HISTORY: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/05/19/pmm-w-nowym-spocie-potrzebujemy-nowej-normalnosci-bo-swiat-nie-bedzie-juz-taki-sam-mamy-plan-jeszcze-szybciej-bedziemy-nadrabiac-dystans-do-najbogatszych-bo-jestesmy-narodem-pracow/ -- TERLECKI ON THE ELECTION DATE, HOŁOWNIA RETURNS TO FIELD MEETINGS, BUDKA INTERRUPTS AN INTERVIEW ON TRÓJKA - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/05/19 -- 100 THOUSAND SIGNATURES IN TWO DAYS? - Agata Kondzińska and Iwona Szpala in Gazeta Wyborcza: “Rafał Trzaskowski entered the presidential race on Friday, and the Civic Platform took 24 hours to change its candidate. This will be an exceptionally short campaign, even though the election date has not yet been officially set. In the corridors, it's rumored that PiS will insist on June 28th. And they want to give new candidates two days to submit 100,000 signatures. The rest of the candidates will use signatures of support collected for the previous election, i.e., from May 10th. - We saw a proposal for the election calendar for the National Electoral Commission – our sources in Civic Platform say. - The Marshal of the Sejm has allocated two days for collecting signatures. One day is for registering the election committee. A Civic Platform politician admits that a PiS colleague showed him the proposal.” -- CIVIC PLATFORM POLITICIAN IN GW ARTICLE ON NERVOUSNESS IN PiS: “– They are very nervous in PiS, and we gauge their mood by the scale of attacks from pro-government media – we hear in Civic Platform. – We expect anything, and we know that PiS will throw obstacles in our way. The more they attack us, the more they make our lives difficult, the tougher we will become and the more prepared we will be – Trzaskowski said on Monday.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25955037,sto-tysiecy-podpisow-w-dwa-dni-czy-trzaskowskiego-zablokuje.html -- PAWEŁ WROŃSKI WRITES IN GW ABOUT PSL POLITICIANS' SUSPICIONS THAT THE CANDIDATE CHANGE WAS PART OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MAIN PARTIES: “Among the peasant politicians, there is a view that Civic Platform politicians agreed with PiS on a restart to change their candidate. Prominent party activists argue that, in PiS's opinion, if there were a second round, the most dangerous opponent for Duda would be Kosiniak-Kamysz. The leader of the peasant party himself recalls that KO is no longer talking about violating the constitution and the rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal.” -- PSL SPEAKS OF A 'RAINBOW' CANDIDATE: “– For now, Trzaskowski has the effect of freshness, but it's hard to assume that a 'rainbow' candidate would stand a chance in rural Poland. After Kidawa-Błońska's failed campaign, Trzaskowski is primarily saving his own party, while we want to fight for Poland – declares one of the PSL politicians.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25956822,ludowcy-w-zagrozeniu-po-i-pis-umowily-ie-na-restart-kampanii.html -- HE COULD BE A SHARP SHADOW IN THIS FOG - ALEKSANDER KWAŚNIEWSKI IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZA IN GAZETA.PL: “Will this be a turning point? We'll see. We're still talking about these elections a bit blindly, because we don't know when they will be held. In fact, we don't even know if the law that would define how they should be conducted, giving Trzaskowski a chance to participate at all, has been definitively accepted and signed. So, in this fog, if I may use an allusion, Trzaskowski's entry could indeed be a sharp shadow. -- KWAŚNIEWSKI ON KIDAWIA'S STYLE FROM HIS GENERATION: “Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska was a very interesting candidate for normal times. Because she is a person who, also due to her age – she is from my generation – brings a lot of life experience. Conciliatory, moderate, calm. And that, if we were in normal times, would have mattered.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25956673,aleksander-kwasniewski-w-gazeta-pl-wejscie-trzaskowskiego-moze.html -- HOŁOWNIA'S ANTI-SYSTEM STANCE IS HIGHLY INTELLECTUAL, BUT I DOUBT HIS CHANCES AFTER TRZASKOWSKI ENTERED THE RACE - SAYS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH PIOTR PACEWICZ IN OKO.PRESS: “In every presidential election, there is a demand for freshness, for anti-establishment sentiments. This is the expectation of about 20% of the electorate who don't have party affiliations and are looking for something new. In Hołownia's case, his anti-establishment stance is on a high intellectual and cultural level. Hołownia has proposed an original, clear campaign with strong messages. I've watched Hołownia's statements, and I must say, it's good; he can indeed connect with people who are fed up with party arrangements and even take voters away from other candidates. He plays the role of an outsider well. Whether that's enough to reach the second round – I don't know. After Trzaskowski entered the race, I have my doubts.” -- KOSINIAK'S DIFFICULTY IN REACHING NEW GROUPS IS VISIBLE - KWAŚNIEWSKI ON WKK: “He can also be a competitive option for those undecided, non-partisan voters because he is appropriately young, dynamic, and European. He might chip away at Hołownia's fresh voter base. Kosiniak-Kamysz's campaign had good momentum, but his difficulty in reaching wider audiences, new groups, is clearly visible. I agree that this is shaping up to be interesting.” -- DUDA FAILED TO ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS A STATESMAN - KWAŚNIEWSKI CONTINUES IN OKO.PRESS: “In my opinion, it will be very difficult for Duda – burdened by a five-year presidency – with any of his opponents. Especially since he has failed to establish himself as a statesman, someone who might not perform perfectly in one debate or another, but everyone knows he is a great, deserving figure. To put it mildly, he does not have that position. The key will be whether the opposition candidate who reaches the second round will get a real tailwind.” -- TRZASKOWSKI IS ADOPTING THE ROLE OF SOMEONE DETERMINED TO WIN - KWAŚNIEWSKI CONTINUES: “The voter must be convinced that this guy really wants to win, wants it desperately. Because if the voter senses even a shadow of doubt in the candidate, then questions immediately arise: why should I vote for someone who isn't convinced himself about his program, his victory, himself? Trzaskowski's initial statements indicate that he is adopting the role of someone determined to win.” -- KWAŚNIEWSKI WILL VOTE FOR BIEDROŃ: “Let's wait for the next polls. In my opinion, Biedroń's task is to consolidate the left-wing electorate. He also needs to reach different groups. It's hard for me to assess from afar – the epidemic caught me in Switzerland – how Robert's campaign is going, but if you want to ask me who I will vote for in the first round, I will answer clearly: for the left. In the first round, we vote for our own, and then we vote for the joint opposition candidate.” https://oko.press/kwasniewski-musi-byc-dla-wyborcow-jasne-ze-temu-facetowi-zalezy/ -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON CIVIC PLATFORM'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL PROJECT THIS TERM - WRITES IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “This is Civic Platform's first successful political project this term – blocking the presidential election in order to replace their own weak candidate. When it came to competing for voters via teleconferences and social media streams, she turned out to be a candidate from another era. Voters left her for Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Szymon Hołownia. And the Platform could not afford that. Therefore, by fighting to reschedule the election, the party was also fighting for the opportunity to replace its candidate – which she herself learned about last.” -- ENDS BIEDROŃ'S CAMPAIGN, DEPRIVES KOSINIAK AND HOŁOWNIA OF SECOND-ROUND CHANCES - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “The first polls show that Trzaskowski enters the race with the second-highest result, and Duda's chances of winning in the first round are decreasing. Trzaskowski's start practically ends Robert Biedroń's campaign and deprives Kosiniak-Kamysz and likely Hołownia of second-round chances. Anything can happen in the second round, although Duda, as the candidate of the right, still has greater opportunities to attract voters, for example from PSL or Konfederacja.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/trzaskowski-na-bialym-koniu-163440 -- WE ARE IN A KIND OF NON-TIME - KAROLINA WIGURA IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “It is puzzling to me how often I hear questions: 'What will you do after quarantine?' or 'What will the world look like after COVID-19?' It's as if we believe we are currently in a kind of 'non-time,' a pause between one normality and another.” -- NOTHING NEW IN NAMING OUR FEELINGS - WIGURA CONTINUES: “In naming the feelings that accompany us, we are not reinventing the wheel. Although new theories or concepts are heard all the time, we reach into the treasury of already available resources. To some extent, for example, looking at cultural texts created under the influence of epidemics in European history can help us. Please note the popularity of Camus's 'The Plague' in recent weeks! Although times change, human nature does not transform. Therefore, in the works of other classics, such as Thucydides or Boccaccio, we can see ourselves as if in a mirror today. From the wide spectrum of emotions described by the classics, for the purpose of this short essay, written during the COVID-19 pandemic, I choose three. These are fear, suspicion, and uncertainty.” -- WIGURA ON THE OVERWHELMING FEELING OF FEAR AND SUSPICION - THEY MUST BE RESPONDED TO POLITICALLY: “All these observations should have serious significance for public figures, including politicians, as they build communication using collective emotions as a foundation. If the most important emotions we feel in the era of coronavirus are fear, suspicion, uncertainty, and grief, then the way to respond to them politically, for example, on the part of the opposition, requires urgent reflection.” -- HOW TO RELEASE HOPE WITHOUT DENYING GRIEF, AND NOT LEAVE FEELINGS FOR ILLIBERAL POPULISTS TO EXPLOIT - WIGURA'S CONCLUSION: “What leadership model should be adopted? How to translate fear into courage? How to turn uncertainty into creativity? How, without denying grief, to release hope? These are three questions that face politicians today, regardless of their party affiliation and the part of the globe where they focus their activities. It would be good for liberal democrats to learn from mistakes. And this time, let's not leave our feelings, which are the engine of politics, for illiberal populists to exploit.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/05/19/strach-niepewnosc-podejrzliwosc-i-zaloba-uczucia-w-czasach-pandemii/ -- IF THE HEADS OF TRÓJKA HAD TURNED A BLIND EYE, THE LOSSES WOULD HAVE BEEN MINIMAL - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN DGP: “Regardless of the facts, the effect is striking. The song introduced an ethical dispute with the current government into the sphere of pop culture, which is always dangerous for those in power. Especially since the artist himself was previously considered a 'symmetrist'. If the heads of Trójka had turned a blind eye to Niedźwiecki's move, the losses would have been minimal. But they didn't. As a result, Kazik's song becomes a weapon – a symbol of the fight against PiS rule, a symbol of contempt for its style and methods.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/7707705,lista-trojki-niedzwiecki-zaremba-piosenka-kazika.html -- WAS IT ABOUT THE FOUNDING MOMENT FOR A NEW RADIO STATION? - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “Certainly, what is happening around Radio Trójka requires solid explanation. How much of this is a planned operation aimed at destroying a station that could interfere with a new project – which we all know about? Was it about creating a crisis point that would allow for the creation of a 'founding moment' for a new station? That's how it looks. This environment is capable of a great deal. It has enormous, specialized experience, not just musical.” -- SOMETHING HAS BURNED OUT AT TRÓJKA, A CHANCE FOR A NEW BEGINNING HAS EMERGED - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “Certainly, the current turning point is an opportunity to rethink the station's concept. A station that has aged with its listeners, which is not a major criticism, because a listener is a listener. But perhaps now, since the team has decided to go truly their own way, there is an opportunity to rethink the format anew? Because this Trójka, which the community that created it dismantled, was losing listeners not only due to conflicts; something had simply burned out there. One could get the impression that both listeners and creators were tired. Now there's a chance for a new opening. Who knows, maybe something truly interesting will be born?” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/500809-wyszlo-na-to-ze-mafioso-z-chlopaki-nie-placza-mial-racje -- THE SONG ERODES THE FOUNDING MYTH OF GOOD CHANGE - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZECZPOSPOLITA: “PiS promised to restore dignity to ordinary Poles, but on April 10th, it mocked that very dignity, showing that there are 'equals' and 'more equal,' demonstrating the alienation of power. Today, the whole of Poland listens to Kazik's song, undermining the founding myth of good change. And that is why both the lyrics themselves and the fame gained from the annulment of the hit list results strike at the very foundation of the legend of PiS's moral superiority and its special mandate to govern.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/200519329-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Kazik-uderzyl-w-najwazniejszy-mit-dobrej-zmiany.html -- ŁUKASZ SZUMOWSKI RESPONDS TO ACCUSATIONS - EVERYONE WAS DECEIVED: “Indeed, it takes me a lot of time to explain how it happened that the ministry, like the European Commission, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, and state-owned companies, were deceived regarding the quality of the purchased masks. To be clear – at that time, at the beginning of the epidemic, there were practically no suppliers who presented valuable offers without requiring advance payment. It is easy to forget what was happening in the world two months ago with the purchase of masks or other protective clothing, but the reality was somewhat different from the picture painted by some media. Similarly, the issue of my family, which has long been explained. Contrary to what some media report, I have never supervised institutions from which my brother's company received funding. Upon coming to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, along with Deputy Prime Minister Gowin, we decided that I would not make any decisions related to the National Centre for Research and Development due to the research activities conducted by the company with which my brother is associated. As for my son, yes – he is studying in his first year of medicine.” -- WE MANAGED TO AVOID A SITUATION LIKE IN ITALY - SZUMOWSKI CONTINUES: “Certainly, the situation in Poland is incomparable to what we observed in Italy, France, or Spain. We managed to avoid those terrible images of coffins on trucks or patients in corridors connected to ventilators. We reacted very quickly, making extremely costly economic decisions. But thanks to this, we managed to prevent the tragedy of overcrowded hospitals and the drama of many families. Today, we probably no longer remember that fear from early March, when we watched scenes from other countries.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/500828-wywiad-minister-szumowski-odpowiada-na-medialne-doniesienia -- PHOTO. VENETIAN FOG, Auguste Renoir, Kreeger Museum, Washington. Co-founder and one of the leading representatives of Impressionism. -- Iosif Brodsky Wrote About Venetian Fog, Though He Did Not Mention Its Sharp Shadow: “'In winter, this city awakens us, especially on Sundays, with the sound of its countless bells, as if behind the tulle of curtains in a pearl-grey sky, a giant porcelain tea set vibrated on a silver tray. We open the window wide, and the room is instantly flooded with this swirling mist outside, saturated with ringing...'” -- The Russian poet, since his exile in 1972, spent every Christmas and part of the foggy, cold January in Venice. He captured the phantasmagorical image of his beloved city in his poems (included in this volume), and most importantly, in the title essay – showing that in prose, he was as brilliant a writer as in poetry. https://www.znak.com.pl/ksiazka/znak-wodny-josif-brodski-2672 -- 29 years ago, Donald Tusk became the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Congress. -- BIRTHDAYS: Marcin Król, Leszek Kubicki, Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Krzysztof Mieszkowski, Danuta Jazłowiecka.