-- SAWICKI: ALL SIGNALS ABOUT A SPLIT WITH POLSKA 2050 ARE UNTRUE AND EXAGGERATED. THE KO COALITION COMMITTEE WILL EXIST – 300LIVE: http://300polityka.pl/live/2023/08/03

-- THE THIRD WAY IS STILL COMING TOGETHER – PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “– Currently, there is no concept of running on a party list, which would lower the election threshold. If, after the recent turmoil, we haven’t dropped below 10 percent in the polls, it means that during the campaign, it will only go up – says Marek Sawicki from PSL optimistically. And he predicts that Saturday's meeting of the party's National Council will end with authorization to hold talks with partners and form electoral lists.”
https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30036808,spotkanie-kosiniaka-kamysza-z-holownia-trzecia-droga-jednak.html

-- I WILL VOTE FOR CIVIC COALITION, AS WILL MY FAMILY, ALTHOUGH I DOUBT ITS SUCCESS, AND I BLAME ITS POTENTIAL FAILURE ON ITS LEADER – LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF GW: “You can repeat how wonderful Donald Tusk is as an opposition leader, but don't be shocked like editor Michnik was in his interview with Komorowski after the lost elections in 2015, when he asked: Why didn't Poles choose you?”

-- NO IDEA FOR POLAND'S PLACE IN EUROPE IS VISIBLE, APART FROM UNCRITICAL AFFIRMATION OF EU POLICY – A GW READER CONTINUES WRITING: “I don't remember Tusk, while holding a high office in the European Union, criticizing the construction of Nord Stream or Germany and France themselves for their pro-Russian policy. No idea for Poland's place in Europe is visible, apart from uncritical affirmation of EU policy, which contrasts with the complete negation of EU policy by PiS governments. Constructive policy would be useful, because Tusk's passivity on the international stage is exploited by the right.”
https://wyborcza.pl/7,162657,30035640,zaglosuje-na-koalicje-obywatelska-tak-jak-moja-rodzina-choc.html

-- THE COLLAPSE OF THE THIRD WAY WILL MOVE THE OPPOSITION FURTHER FROM POWER – BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA IN RZ: “Failure of the separate electoral committees of PSL and Szymon Hołownia's Polska 2050 to cross the five percent threshold would ultimately deprive the opposition of any mathematical chance of winning. Forgive me for using this word; I believe that 'tampering' with the Hołownia and PSL coalition, from the perspective of election results, is like playing with matches over a barrel of gunpowder. And not because of any exceptional fondness for either leader. The pre-election geography of the Polish political scene is much more important.”
https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art38893001-boguslaw-chrabota-rozpad-trzeciej-drogi-oddali-opozycje-od-wladzy

-- SURPRISINGLY, POLARIZATION IN POLAND IS NOT INCREASING AT ALL. QUITE THE CONTRARY: MORE PEOPLE ARE BECOMING TIRED OF THE DUOPOLY THAT HAS RULED US FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES – JAROSŁAW FLIS IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “It remains an undisputed fact that in the summer period preceding each of the last four parliamentary elections, the polarization on the Polish political scene was greater than this year. So it's different from what the leaders and the most loyal supporters of the two largest parties would like to see. Poles are increasingly tired of the duopoly. Both PiS (36% support in July 2023 polls) and PO (30.7%) have lower support today than their own July average from the previous four elections. Both parties have had worse results before, but at the same time, each is now several percentage points short of their best achievements. It is enough to mention that in July 2019, polls for PiS reached a level of 47.6%.”

-- THE LEFT AND 'THIRD WAY' POLLS HAVE STABILIZED AT A QUITE DECENT LEVEL OF 18.8%, GIVING THEM TOGETHER ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF WHAT KO CAN EXPECT – FLIS CONTINUES IN TYGODNIK: “After the June 4th March, many excited commentators already announced a political tsunami that would sweep away not only the ruling party but also the smaller stakeholders of the 'senate bloc' trying to preserve their identity. Indeed, a month ago, Civic Coalition's ratings were higher than before the march – a 2.5 percentage point change seemed to be the beginning of a 'downward slope' for PiS and for PO to break through the 'glass ceiling.' However, this came at the cost not of the ruling party, but of Tusk's potential coalition partners. The following month did not bring a deepening of KO's advantage, but a drop of half a point. On the other hand, the ratings of the Left and the 'Third Way' have stabilized at a quite decent level of 18.8%, giving them together almost two-thirds of what KO can expect.”

-- THE ENTHUSIASM OF KONFEDERACJA LEADERS, WHO ALREADY SEE THEMSELVES AS THE ONES OVERTURNING THE TABLE, HAS WEAK FOUNDATIONS. THEIR OWN STOOL MAY OVERTURN MORE EASILY – FLIS WRITES: “All analyzed party results can also be grouped differently, e.g., by looking at their place in the power structure. The ruling party lost support in all four elections discussed during the campaign. The main opposition party grew only once, as did the third force in July rankings. Therefore, the enthusiasm of Konfederacja leaders, who already see themselves as those overturning the table, has weak foundations. Their own stool may overturn more easily – after all, third place on the podium is not the most stable. The largest combined increases, on the other hand, were achieved by those who were already outside the podium in July – but this is also only two out of four cases.”
https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/co-wynika-z-lipcowych-sondazy-analiza-tygodnika-184154

-- THE AUTHORITIES HAVE RAISED PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS, WHO ARE NOW SURPRISED THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED AT ALL. AND IT COULD HAVE, BECAUSE AIR DEFENSE IN NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD CAN DEFEND THE ENTIRE TERRITORY, IMPORTANT OBJECTIVES ARE DEFENDED – MICHAŁ FISZER ON TYGODNIK POLITYKA'S PORTAL: “Unfortunately, the Polish authorities, by boasting about the exceptional tightness of our multi-layered air defense, have greatly overstepped. They have inflated the expectations of people who are now surprised that something like this could have happened at all. And it could have, because air defense in no country in the world can defend the entire territory; important objectives are defended. A 3 km penetration into Poland is unstoppable; there is no way to react to it. You just have to watch the Białowieża forests so that some saboteurs don't get out of there 'into Poland,' and that's all. And talk of nonsense about an exceptionally tight air defense system or defending Poland from the very border can be dismissed, because neither is realistic.”
https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/swiat/2222286,1,525-dzien-wojny-czego-bialoruskie-smiglowce-szukaly-w-polsce-to-nie-byl-przypadkowy-wlot.read

-- TWO BELARUSIAN HELICOPTERS OVER BIAŁOWIEŻA WERE ENOUGH TO UNDERCUT TWO IMPORTANT PRE-ELECTION NARRATIVES OF THE RULING CAMP – WITOLD GŁOWACKI IN OKO.PRESS: “The narrative of a 'safe and sealed Polish-Belarusian border' and the one that only the United Right government can protect us from the growing threat from the East (personified by a hundred Wagnerites in Belarus). It turns out that the border is neither safe nor sealed. And the Wagnerites wouldn't have to get through it by digging under 'Błaszczak's fence.' They could have easily flown over it in Mi-8 helicopters with a large red star on their fuselages.”
https://oko.press/pis-bezradny-smiglowce-nad-bialowieza

-- LET'S NOT BE FOOLED BY PEOPLE WHO WRAP THEMSELVES IN WHITE AND RED FLAGS SOLELY BEFORE ELECTIONS – MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “Let's not be fooled by people who wrap themselves in white and red flags solely before elections. Poland, Polish freedom, the Polish desire to be masters in our own home, the dream of a sovereign Polish state, the 'determined will for independence, not backing down from anything' were the values from which the 1944 Uprising stemmed and for which blood was shed. This message remains very relevant today.”
https://wpolityce.pl/spoleczenstwo/656868-niecofajaca-sie-przed-niczym-wola-niepodleglosci

-- PEKAO'S IMPRESSIVE PROFIT – FORSAL: “Pekao SA's profit in the first half of 2023 amounted to PLN 3 billion 235 million, an increase of PLN 1 billion 774.5 million compared to the first half of 2022 – the bank announced on Thursday. It added that the profit was achieved, among other things, thanks to higher income and lower contributions to the Bank Guarantee Fund.”
https://forsal.pl/finanse/gielda/artykuly/9110507,pekao-sa-pokazalo-wyniki-za-pierwsze-polrocze-2023-roku-imponujacy-zy.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Antoni Macierewicz turns 75, Jan Dziedziczak, Grzegorz Rydlewski.