-- 12 YEARS AGO, Professor Bronisław Geremek died in a car accident in Lubień, Wielkopolskie Voivodeship. -- PROFESSOR FRISZKE REMEMBERS GEREMEK IN WIĘŹ LIKE THIS: “He rejected the understanding of politics as a kind of war, where the goal is the moral, and perhaps even physical, destruction of the opponent.” http://wiez.com.pl/2017/03/06/bronislawa-geremka-droga-do-wolnej-polski/ Photo. PAP FROM THE ALDE EXHIBITION IN PE https://www.flickr.com/photos/aldeadle/4806219170/ -- 24 DAYS UNTIL ANDRZEJ DUDA ASSUMES THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND. -- BRUDZIŃSKI COMPLIMENTS MASTALEREK, SCHETYNA ON DUDA'S CLEAR VICTORY, EXCLUDING EFFECTIVE PROTEST, GOWIN ON MARKET REPOLONIZATION OF MEDIA - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/07/13/ -- JACEK PONIEDZIAŁEK ON KINGA DUDA'S SPEECH: “Today’s speech by Kinga Duda really intrigued me, because I’m thinking, isn’t this an attempt to change the narrative? Made through the lips of a daughter. And she said it sincerely, meaning Andrzej Duda had to be aware of what she would say. After all, a father and daughter talk to each other. So, I find myself realizing that there are more gains than losses, despite everything. That's why let's not despair – wrote Poniedziałek.” https://www.onet.pl/kultura/onetkultura/wybory-2020-przemowienie-kingi-dudy-jacek-poniedzialek-komentuje/r64th2l,681c1dfa -- SZYMON HOŁOWNIA ON THE HYSTERIA OF TRZASKOWSKI'S HUNWEIBINS: “Today I see the hysteria of Trzaskowski's hunweibins, that 240,000 of my voters didn't go. They say I could have done something more for Trzaskowski, why didn't I call on them, that it would be my fault that Duda would win. Me, who did so much for Trzaskowski, even though I didn't have to and wasn't always convinced, but I thought we had to fight for Poland, and we'd fight for the rest later? Their pride and their arrogance know no bounds. Then they wonder why people don't want to vote for Civic Platform, or why people in Poland vote for Duda, even if it's because they can't stand what some Platform followers propose.” -- EVEN IF PLATFORM NOMINATED GANDHI, IT WOULD STILL HAVE NEGATIVE ELECTORATE - HOŁOWNIA FURTHER: “Trzaskowski will lose due to voters' negative experiences from the times of the Civic Platform's rule. If Trzaskowski loses, he won't lose because of his virtues and traits, but he will lose because of Platform's negative electorate. Because many people in Poland, after having negative experiences with Platform's past, will not be able to vote for Platform. Even if Platform nominated Gandhi in the elections, it would have a negative electorate, because that's the political brand – the candidate noted.” -- HOŁOWNIA ON THREE POLANDS: “Those 10 million who did not go to the polls are actually the third great Poland, which stands today next to Trzaskowski and Duda and says nothing, we know little about it.” https://rmf24.pl/raporty/raport-wybory-prezydenckie2020/najnowsze-fakty/news-holownia-widze-histerie-hunwejbinow-trzaskowskiego,nId,4607185 -- SOCIETY NO LONGER WANTS PO - GALOPUJĄCY MAJOR: “And society no longer wants PO. For the majority of society, Poland with PO's advantages is worse than Poland with PiS's disadvantages. It's time to get this into your heads. You fell in love with your candidate, you squealed like teenagers when he appeared with his wife, and when he showed the parrots, it was like Clark Gable descended from the screen to you. Except that love doesn't win elections. PiS did everything to make this a plebiscite for power, and Platform, like a calf, went into it. And now again its voters feel like they've been hit over the head with a club. I'll suggest: there are fewer of you than them. So you should discourage them, not annoy them with a guy who humiliated PiS in Warsaw and is the new Tusk for voters.” -- HOW MANY MORE TIMES WILL PLATFORM DISAPPOINT? - MAJOR FURTHER: “How many more electoral gifts would the PO candidacy need to receive to achieve a result just once? Yes, I know Biedroń's result, but the Left wasn't playing for anything from the start here. The main anti-opposition force is PO. And it failed again. How many more times? How many?” -- THESE ELECTIONS WERE WINNABLE BUT NOT BY AN ELITE CANDIDATE WHO LOST BY THE SAME MARGIN AS KOMOROWSKI - MAJOR FURTHER: “I've said it from the beginning: these elections, with all these favorable circumstances for the opposition, were winnable, but not by an elite candidate from Warsaw's Platform. In my opinion, Hołownia would have won these elections. Because the anti-PiS vote would have gone to him anyway, and a significant portion of the PiS voters would have stayed home. But the party's self-interest of Civic Platform won, whose fans are now running around in a frenzy calling all opposition candidates unpatriotic for not serving Rafał enough baby food. Besides, they were running around before the elections and blackmailing everyone that only Rafał, only Rafał. Well, Rafał lost. By exactly the same margin as that loser Komorowski.” -- KACZYŃSKI IS EVEN PLAYING TOO MUCH WITH OUTMANEUVERING PLATFORM WITHOUT EVEN LEAVING HOME - MAJOR'S CONCLUSION: “Indeed, we on the Left really have something to think about, because we got a severe thrashing in these elections. But if I were a Polish liberal, I would seriously consider looking for an alternative, for example with Hołownia, because for now, PO is the best opponent that PiS has ever encountered. Simply put, outmaneuvering PO is already Kaczyński's favorite sport, which he does without even leaving home.” https://galopujacymajor.wordpress.com/2020/07/13/a-jednak-wybory-wygrywa-sie-w-konskich-czyli-po-znowu-nie-dowiozla-wyniku/ -- NARRATIVES TO PREPARE THE THESIS OF A NARROW VICTORY - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “One of Onet's commentators started it on election night, shouting to the astonished Bronisław Wildstein on TVP, that nothing was over, that there would be protests, lawsuits, that the courts would decide if these elections were valid. Then the narratives of TVN and Polsat stubbornly insisted almost until morning that it was impossible to determine who had won, even though it became increasingly clear with every minute that it was Andrzej Duda's victory. According to serious analysts known to me, this was preparation for the thesis that Duda won by a hair's breadth, and therefore we are recounting. It's also worth remembering that the result given in the Exit Poll (50.4 to 49.6) was due to applied filters, as the raw data indicated 51.5 to 49.5. Now 'Fakt', which played a known role in this campaign, is already pumping: 'More and more reports of irregularities. Will they have to repeat the #presidential_elections?' There are more such voices. Much indicates that they will try to steal this victory from the pro-Polish camp.” -- WHEN THEY BELIEVED IN TRZASKOWSKI'S VICTORY, THE ELECTIONS WERE COMPLETELY FAIR - KARNOWSKI FURTHER: “The day before the vote, when many people in the Third Republic camp believed that Trzaskowski was going to win, the elections were completely valid and fair. On election day as well (if anyone broke the election silence, it was the defenders of democracy, live mobilizing with eight stars or calls to residents to 'defend democracy'). But when President Andrzej Duda's victory becomes obvious – 'irregularities' appear. Fortunately, everything indicates that President Andrzej Duda's lead will be convincing, so it won't be easy to build tension around the thesis of recounting or the slogan of new elections. But they will try. They are trying. The pro-Polish camp cannot afford to be demobilized yet. Now is the time to strongly guard democracy and our freedom.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/509036-stop-na-horyzoncie-niebezpieczny-atak -- THE MEDIA MARKET FIRST? - ANDRZEJ GAJCY IN ONET: “PiS politicians, with whom we spoke in the final days of the campaign, did not hide that if Duda managed to win, it would be an opportunity to redefine the 'good change' policy and review all programs and promises. There is also a strong conviction in the ruling party that they will have to 'step on the gas' and complete what they haven't managed to do in the past five years for fear of election results. It is possible that the ruling camp will first focus on the media market in Poland, which, especially in the last week before the second round, became one of the main themes of the presidential campaign.” -- DIFFICULT WEEKS FOR THE OPPOSITION - GAJCY FURTHER: “Andrzej Duda's victory means that the opposition will now face very difficult weeks, if not months, of internal reckoning and searching for those responsible for the electoral defeat. The Civic Platform is of course in the most difficult situation, having once again failed to defeat Law and Justice in an electoral contest. Even hiding the party banner by Trzaskowski and appealing to a sense of community and civic slogans did not help. The freshness effect, very visible at the very beginning of Trzaskowski's campaign, when he replaced Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska in mid-May, also did not help.” -- GAJCY ON RECLAIMING THE SENATE: “Both Civic Platform and the entire opposition will likely face a fundamental restructuring, for which there will be plenty of time, as much as three years until the next parliamentary elections. The question that remains unanswered for now is whether Szymon Hołownia will enter the struggle for hearts and minds on the opposition side, who – as the first-round vote showed – could prove to be a significant threat to the current Platform. The PiS will certainly not facilitate the regrouping of opposition forces, which will likely not miss the opportunity, after Andrzej Duda's success, to try to reclaim the Senate by swaying a few senators to regain full control of parliament. If Kaczyński succeeds in regaining the Senate, then PO leader Borys Budka will find himself in serious trouble, as he can be sure that quite quickly, through Grzegorz Schetyna's hands, a struggle for his political head will begin within Platform.” -- CAN TRZASKOWSKI RECOVER LIKE TUSK DID? - GAJCY FURTHER: “Until now, Trzaskowski has won all the elections he has participated in with relative ease. Many hope that Trzaskowski can repeat the path taken by Donald Tusk, who in 2005 also lost the presidential race to Lech Kaczyński, only to become a 'political killing machine' two years later and lead his party to victory and power. The only question is whether Trzaskowski will be able to rise again after such a close fight.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/wybory-prezydenckie-2020-andrzej-duda-zwyciezca-co-to-oznacza-analiza/645fkjd,79cfc278 -- IT'S WORTH LISTENING TO AGATA DUDA WITHOUT PREJUDICE - PAWEŁ BRAVO IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “What's worse, even if PiS tries to regain control of the 'technological continuum' in Warsaw, meaning to bribe a few senators, it will be dealing with a Duda who is less dependent on the chairman's whims and grace, assuming, of course, that his past achievements allow us to judge whether he sometimes shows a strong character. Because we all saw that his wife has it – it's worth listening to her speech without prejudice, because not only was it the only spontaneous accent of that terribly boring evening, when both contenders put on a brave face and spouted platitudes, but it showed the scale of tensions, fatigue, and therefore anger, that might be simmering in the neglected inhabitants of the palace.” -- THE OPPOSITION CAN'T BREAK THE GLASS CEILING - BRAVO FURTHER: “On the other hand, looking more narrowly, we see an opposition that, under favorable circumstances – because the replacement of a disastrous candidate at a time of May's turning point gave them an opportunity to organize a campaign blitzkrieg and adopt a fresh, dynamic image – cannot break the glass ceiling. It often seems more occupied with itself and establishing hierarchies within its camp than with trying to influence reality. This might stem from a lack of a leader as ruthless as he is charming, like Donald Tusk. If so, Rafał Trzaskowski's statement that the former prime minister is now retired could turn out to be the most important future accent of his campaign. Whether he will truly be able to fend off his mentor's attempts to continue playing various segments of the opposition from a safe distance remains to be seen. But it's worth remembering that even in Tusk's case, it was only a painful double defeat that made him a bloodthirsty politician with what is called in café politology a 'drive to the goal.' In Civic Platform, a generational change began last winter; Trzaskowski, even as a loser (with a respectable result and a good campaign to his credit), has a chance to finish it now.” -- WE ARE OPPORTUNISTICALLY CONSERVATIVE - BRAVO FURTHER: “During this campaign, more than in previous ones, the artificial culture war was heated up. Artificial, because Polish society fortunately remains lukewarm on issues that, if some media are to be believed, are matters of life and death for civilization, for Poland's place in Europe, and for democracy. We are opportunistically conservative, but we quietly practice openness to various cultural and social changes. We are somewhere in the middle of extremes. And yesterday's results – practically fifty/fifty – symbolize this well.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/jestesmy-gdzies-posrodku-164028 -- KAROLINA WIGURA ON CONSOLIDATION OF POWER: “If Andrzej Duda's lead holds, we can expect a consolidation of Law and Justice's rule. However, this will not be consolidation in the sense of stabilization, or even stagnation. PiS's previous governments teach us, rather, that whenever psychologically one might expect calm, PiS makes a leap forward. We are therefore most likely awaiting such a leap. What will it consist of? PiS has already partially familiarized us with its most important repertoire. We can expect further attempts to subordinate the judiciary, moves regarding state institutions, local governments, but also several other areas, hitherto only slightly touched: academia or non-governmental organizations.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/07/12/wigura-wybory2020-exit-polls/ -- THERE IS NO OTHER COUNTRY, THERE ARE NO OTHER POLES - JAROSŁAW KUISZ IN KL: “There is no other country, there are no other Poles. As a whole society, this is exactly how we are politically in 2020, as this campaign has shown. The post-communist myth of the West has long since dissipated. The old, simple enthusiasm for building a liberal democracy has passed. Populism is in full swing today, even in countries like the United States. Here, generations who don't remember the PRL are starting families… Since Jarosław Kaczyński's party will not change its course, all this must be taken seriously – Ladies and Gentlemen, on the liberal side, let's get to work. Because there is no other Poland.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/07/12/jesli-wygra-andrzej-duda/ -- IT'S WORTH STARTING THE RECONCILIATION FROM THE BASICS - RECOGNIZING THE RIGHT OF THE 4TH REPUBLIC TO EXIST - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “The current president's final lead should be as much as half a million votes. There will be no question of disputing the results. This was an exceptionally difficult election campaign for the good change camp. The Third Republic system sensed an opportunity and threw absolutely everything into the fight. Very dirty tactics were used, attacks were below the belt. If not for the well-chosen strategy, if not for Andrzej Duda's heroic work, if not for TVP balancing, at least to some elementary extent, the advantage of the mainstream media, there would have been no chance of victory. Poles, however – as much as it indicates – did not disappoint. They correctly recognized their national and state interest. Yes, there are two Polands. Yes, this will not be easily stitched together. Work must be done on it. It's worth starting from the basics: from recognizing the right of the 4th Republic to exist, to fight for electoral success. And this is still being denied.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/508969-po-podliczeniu-glosow-zwyciestwo-a-dudy-bedzie-wyrazniejsze -- DUDA IS THE LAST PRESIDENT WHO CAN RELY ON ONLY ONE LEG IN THE FIGHT FOR VICTORY - JACEK GĄDEK IN GAZETA.PL: “Duda fought not to gain the largest number of Polish votes, but to gain the entire right-wing voter base. Looking at the provisional results, this is a declining policy. Andrzej Duda is the last president who, dreaming of the presidency, could rely on only one leg. This one, the right one. Social changes are inevitable, although they occur with a delay in Poland. With growing prosperity, respect for human dignity – yes, it sounds lofty – will become more important. PiS – paradoxically – by creating social programs like 500+ and pumping billions into the economy through subsequent 'anti-crisis shields' is accelerating this process.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,26123854,byla-najbrutalniejsza-kampania-iii-rp-a-jest-jezyk-milosci.html -- PRESIDENT'S PHOTOGRAPHER JAKUB SZYMCZUK POSTS A PHOTO OF PAD AND RT AFTER THE CAMPAIGN: https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/509041-niesamowite-zdjecie-uscisk-dloni-dudy-i-trzaskowskiego -- BIRTHDAYS: Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Sylwester Latkowski, Marian Banaś, Karol Działoszyński, Tomasz Snażyk.