-- SAWICKI: IF LEADERS REACH JOINT AGREEMENTS TODAY, A MISSION SHOULD BE SENT TO THE PRESIDENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ WOULD BE THE BEST AMBASSADOR - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/10/17/ -- IF SOMEONE SAYS THESE ELECTIONS WERE A VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY, THEY ARE WRONG. DEMOCRACY ASSUMES EQUAL ELECTORAL CHANCES AND SIMILAR WEIGHT FOR EACH VOTE - PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “Democracy assumes stable rules with uncertain outcomes. Law and Justice decided to creatively change this rule. The aim was for elections to be like a flat race for PiS voters, while for opposition voters it was a steeplechase. (...) The rivalry between the opposition and PiS can therefore be compared to a chess match described by Wojciech Młynarski in the famous ‘Ballad of the Chess Player’, in which the chess ‘master’ proposes to his opponent: ‘From now on, there are no fouls, for your move, three of mine, and for every pawn taken, you get a punch.’ And it ended just like in the ballad: ‘He moved three pieces at once, my jaw is swelling, my ears are burning, and the funniest thing is, he’s probably lost again’.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,30309264,pisowska-ballada-o-szachiscie-czyli-niedozwolony-doping-wyborczy.html -- A TRAGICOMEDY OF ERRORS - PRZEMYSŁAW SZUBARTOWICZ IN INTERIA: “Everyone made mistakes. Politicians, specialists, alarmists, 'symetrists', opinion research centres, pro-government journalists, and commentators sympathetic to the opposition. The election results – if the poll projections are ultimately confirmed – have once again shown that the future is always different than we expect. It will be the same with the future of the new parliamentary arrangement, which the media are so eagerly discussing today.” -- JOURNALISTS WERE WRONG WHO CLAIMED SZYMON HOŁOWNIA IS A HIDDEN PI'S AGENT AND WŁADYSŁAW KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ IS JUST WAITING TO FALL INTO KACZYŃSKI'S POLITICAL EMBRACE - SZUBARTOWICZ CONTINUES IN INTERIA: “Journalists were wrong who claimed Szymon Hołownia is a hidden PiS agent and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz is just waiting to fall into Kaczyński's political embrace. Trzecia Droga (The Third Way) saved the results for the entire opposition, and the clear declarations of its leaders shatter the notion that PiS can expect favour from this group. Szymon Hołownia was wrong because he did not fulfil his own fantasy of taking over leadership on the opposition's side. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz was a bit less wrong, because although he didn't take votes away from PiS and didn't conquer the Polish countryside, he saved the Polish People's Party (PSL) from oblivion.” -- THOSE WERE WRONG WHO, IN EMOTIONAL OBSESSION, PREDICTED THAT PiS WOULD FALSIFY THE ELECTIONS, DEPLOY THE ARMY ON THE STREETS, AND KACZYŃSKI WOULD NOT GIVE UP POWER ONCE GAINED - SZUBARTOWICZ CONTINUES: “Those were wrong who, in emotional obsession, predicted that PiS would falsify the elections, deploy the army on the streets, and Kaczyński would not give up power once gained. And also those who thought that national consensus would prevail if only the unshakeable polarization was removed, and a broad rational centre could be built between the most ardent sides of the Polish dispute. The left was wrong, which believed that by repeating the same slogans about a cultural revolution and unlimited progress, it would manage to expand its electorate, and nothing of the sort happened. And also the Confederation, located on the other side of the horseshoe, whose anti-political correctness counter-revolution failed.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/raport-wybory-parlamentarne-2023/news-tragikomedia-pomylek,nId,7090799 -- PiS WON OPTICALLY, GARNERING THE MOST VOTES. HOWEVER, IT LOST POLITICALLY - PROF. JAROSŁAW FLIS IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “It can be stated without risk that there will be neither a ruling coalition of PiS with any of the parliamentary groups, nor a surprise in the final election results. Law and Justice won them optically, securing the most votes. However, they lost politically, as they have no one to form a lasting alliance with, and they did not receive a strong enough mandate from their voters to govern alone. It is significant that the election results almost perfectly match the polls from a year ago. After eight years in power, such high support for PiS is a considerable achievement, but politicians of the ruling camp must also realize that for the past year, they have been playing with marked cards against the opposition.” -- THIS IS A FIASCO OF THE ELECTION STRATEGY, IN WHICH PiS CLEARLY BET ON POLARIZATION - FLIS CONTINUES: “The list of tricks used is long – from involving public institutions and State Treasury companies in the campaign for PiS, to financing it from the budget (picnics, allegedly promoting the 800 plus program) and disregarding the demands of the National Electoral Commission (PKW), which called for adjusting the number of mandates in constituencies to demographic changes in the country (changes detrimental to the ruling party). With such support and such a huge disparity in access to public funds and airtime on TVP, maintaining last year's support level can only be called one thing. It is a fiasco of the election strategy, in which PiS clearly bet on polarization.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/pis-gral-znaczonymi-kartami-i-przegral-184996 -- POLAND IS NOT HUNGARY - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “While waiting for the official results, it can be clearly stated that Poland is not Hungary – democratic parties are still very strong here and can count on the votes of many millions of Poles, who constitute a real social force. This is true regardless of the final distribution of mandates.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2023/10/15/sawczuk-w-poniedzialek-exit-poll-polska-to-nie-wegry/ -- PSL WANTS THE MARSHAL OF THE SEJM - KAMIL DZIUBKA IN ONET: “Everything indicates that Donald Tusk will become prime minister. It is unclear which variant will be chosen for the position of Marshal of the Sejm. It is known that the PSL is eyeing this seat, although there are also voices within Civic Coalition that suggest not giving it to the PSL. The Marshal has immense power, and furthermore, in the event of, for example, the death or permanent inability of the president to perform their duties, they will act as head of state.” -- MINISTRY OF DEFENSE FOR HOŁOWNIA? - DZIUBKA CONTINUES: “The ministerial positions are a separate issue. For example, Szymon Hołownia has already announced that his party is interested in the Ministry of Defense. The PSL traditionally wants to take agriculture. However, the final structure of the government is a song of the future.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/psl-ostrzy-sobie-zeby-na-to-stanowisko-ludzie-tuska-sceptyczni-kulisy/qcqr9gx,79cfc278 -- IN WIERUSZÓW, PiS WINS AFTER ALL, SPECTACULAR RESULT FOR 3RD WAY: https://wybory.gov.pl/sejmsenat2023/pl/sejm/wynik/gm/101807 -- ZIOBRO WILL RETAIN 19 MPS: https://oko.press/na-zywo/wybory-na-zywo-oko-press/sukces-solidarnej-polski-dostanie-tyle-samo-mandatow-co-w-2019 -- SHREDDERS ARE ALREADY WORKING - PIOTR ŚMIŁOWICZ IN GAZETA.PL: “Michał Szczerba announces today in an interview with jedenewsdziennie.pl that he and MP Joński will be very active in blocking the destruction of evidence, such as traces of wiretaps conducted against politicians or journalists. - Unfortunately, for example, court regulations speak of the so-called document 'write-offs' from archives. Therefore, if courts issued wiretap warrants based on fictitious premises, today, at the order of court presidents, such documents can be destroyed in accordance with the law, and this cannot be allowed – emphasizes Szczerba. Furthermore, he adds, apart from formal documents, there are also informal ones, such as emails or chat messages, the destruction of which does not require such procedures as for formal documents.” https://jedennewsdziennie.pl/article/87 -- TO THE OPPOSITION WITH DIGNITY - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “As everything indicates, the United Right is moving to the opposition today. It should do so with dignity. Because although theoretically, a different government arrangement than a KO-TD-L coalition can be imagined, it will not happen, I believe, in this round. External pressures are too strong. Today, from PiS's perspective, the most important thing is to defend its electoral base. Today, one must think about saving the foundations. One must guard the banners.” -- IF THE THIRD REPUBLIC TAKES OVER THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, IT WILL COMPLETE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A VIRTUALLY UNASSAILABLE SYSTEM - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “We have local and European elections ahead of us. These will be tough battles, and it will be difficult to expect great successes in them. But every step forward will be worth its weight in gold. And most importantly, it can be an opportunity to build a 'political machine', firmly rooted in the field, and at the same time efficient analytically and research-wise, which will be able to win against the 'ketchup of globalism', i.e., not only against political forces but also against the media, NGOs, external funding, and international pressure. Because the most important confrontation awaits us in 2025, during the presidential elections. They will decide Poland's fate for decades to come. If the Third Republic takes over the presidential palace, it will complete the construction of a virtually unassailable system.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/667081-co-dalej-o-wszystkim-zdecyduje-kilka-najblizszych-miesiecy -- THE UNWILLINGNESS TO SUPPORT THE RULING PARTY MOBILIZED SO MANY NEW VOTERS THAT PiS ULTIMATELY ACHIEVED A RESULT MORE THAN 6 PERCENTAGE POINTS WORSE THAN IN 2019 - MAREK KĘSKRAWIEC IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “Law and Justice – using unprecedented cash transfers in the history of democratic Poland and utilizing public media in its campaign – managed to maintain the support of 8 million Poles. However, the aversion to the ruling party mobilized so many new voters that PiS ultimately achieved a result more than 6 percentage points worse than in 2019. The scale of the defeat is even greater because the referendum result is also not favourable to Kaczyński's party. Just over 40% of voters participated in it, which means that the answers to questions about the migration pact, the border barrier, privatization, or retirement age are not binding.” -- BY ACCUSING EVERYONE AROUND OF BETRAYING NATIONAL INTERESTS, PiS HAS CORNERED ITSELF - WRITES KĘSKRAWIEC IN TYGODNIK: “By accusing everyone around of betraying national interests, PiS has cornered itself. It is in Parliament, at the same time, the strongest and the weakest. Kaczyński's camp will fight, however, because losing power is not only a farewell to positions in the government, ministries, central offices, State Treasury companies, or funds and agencies that have been proliferating for years – it is also the beginning, at least for some politicians, of proceedings to hold them accountable for unconstitutional changes in the judiciary or attempts to organize 'envelope elections' in 2020.” -- THIS MAY NOT BE AN EASY PROCESS, TENSIONS CAN BE IMAGINED ON THE TUSK-HOŁOWNIA LINE, BUT ALSO BETWEEN THE THIRD WAY AND THE LEFT - KĘSKRAWIEC CONTINUES IN TYGODNIK: “This may not be an easy process; agreements between future coalition partners are still general, and there are no decisions yet regarding the division of positions in the government or parliament. Tensions can be imagined on the Tusk-Hołownia line (due to the surprisingly good result of Trzecia Droga), but also between Trzecia Droga (mainly PSL) and the Left: on issues of abortion, LGBT+, or low taxes for entrepreneurs. However, these will not be fundamental differences. They are certainly easier to overcome than the resistance the new government will face from the president with veto power, the Constitutional Tribunal, or the National Bank of Poland (NBP).” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/tak-wygrala-opozycja-185007 -- TUSK SAID AT THE MARCH IN WARSAW, SEEING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DEMONSTRATORS, THAT "THE GIANT HAS AWAKENED". PiS HAS INDEED AWAKENED IT - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “On June 4th, Donald Tusk said at the march in Warsaw, seeing hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, that 'the giant has awakened'. But he did not do it himself; Jarosław Kaczyński awakened it. He counted on maximum polarization, on basing the electoral strategy on a campaign to vilest Tusk and Civic Platform, leading to a final clash of two camps. But he miscalculated. Polls showed that undecided voters were predominantly potential opposition voters. And the exit poll results seem to suggest this, indicating that despite the d'Hondt system, which rewards the election winner, the opposition parties will have a majority.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39272681-michal-szuldrzynski-kaczynski-obudzil-olbrzyma-i-doprowadzil-do-spolecznego-buntu-przeciw-pis -- THE OPPOSITION CANNOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES FROM BEFORE 2015, BECAUSE PiS WILL RETURN STRONGER - ESTERA FLIEGER IN RZ: “PiS will be a stronger opposition and much more willing to learn than the one we observed for eight years. Secondly, PiS's social mandate is still powerful: after eight years, support for the ruling party has not fallen below 30% – this is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored and a result that no other party has achieved since 1989. President Aleksander Kwaśniewski is right, who, commenting on the exit poll results on TVN24, emphasized that the millions of PiS voters should be listened to carefully, trying to understand their problems well.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art39272181-estera-flieger-opozycja-nie-moze-powtorzyc-bledow-sprzed-2015-roku-bo-pis-wroci-wzmocniony -- IT IS IMPERATIVE TO FULFILL THE VOTERS' WILL TO IMPLEMENT SPECIFIC IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS THAT BROUGHT THEM TO THE BALLOT BOX. JUST AS PiS, WHICH IMPLEMENTED ITS PROMISES OF 500 PLUS AND RETURNING TO A SHORTER RETIREMENT AGE ALMOST IMMEDIATELY - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “Donald Tusk and other opposition leaders, if they want to maintain their winning streak (European, local, and presidential elections), should consider that they have received a loan. Of course, every government undertakes obligations after winning elections, but with such mobilization and such a level of intensity and expectations, the interest rate increases. Therefore, it is imperative to fulfill the voters' will to implement specific ideas and solutions to the problems that brought them to the ballot box. Just as PiS, which implemented its promises of 500 plus and returning to a shorter retirement age almost immediately.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39273731-zuzanna-dabrowska-co-musi-zrobic-zwycieska-w-wyborach-opozycja -- THE LEFT DID NOT REACH WOMEN - PROF. PRZEMYSŁAW SADURA IN CONVERSATION WITH ARKADIUSZ GRUSZCZYŃSKI IN GW: “- Because it failed to reach women. Its limitation was an unclear political strategy. Look: on the one hand, the left became the advocate for gender equality, access to legal abortion, and broadly understood women's rights. On the other hand, three men stood at the head of Nowa Lewica (New Left), who were not convinced that this was a flawed strategy in today's times. They did not seize the opportunity to bring women to the forefront. Or to name a female candidate for prime minister.” https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,30308772,prof-sadura-to-mlodzi-dali-opozycji-zwyciestwo.html -- RAFAŁ WOŚ: WILL THEY AGREE ON ANYTHING? OR NEW POLISH ECONOMIC POLICY AFTER THE ELECTIONS - RAFAŁ WOŚ IN INTERIA: “The former (future?) prime minister did this, of course, without mentioning the furious opposition his own party so recently fought against 500+. Nor did he mention that it was none other than himself... who raised the retirement age in Poland. In a sense, by choosing such an abdication from economic policy, Donald Tusk probably met the expectations of the majority of his voters. Who – it seems – are not very interested in any vision of Poland's economic future. Beyond Mickiewicz's 'We, with Donald at the helm, and somehow it will be.' With the now un-Mickiewiczian addition 'F*** PiS'.” https://biznes.interia.pl/gospodarka/news-rafal-wos-czy-oni-sie-zgodza-na-cokolwiek-czyli-nowa-polska-,nId,7090841 -- BIRTHDAYS: Adam Michnik (77), Antoni Dudek, Justyna Suchecka, Rafał Woś, Andrzej Mikosz.