-- SUNDAY MARKS PREMIER EWY KOPACZ'S 67TH BIRTHDAY. *** -- HOŁOWNIA HAS HIS FIVE MINUTES, BUT THE NEXT RACE HAS ALREADY BEGUN - ŁUKASZ LIPIŃSKI ON TYGODNIK POLITYKA'S PORTAL: “However, in two weeks we will have a new government, and by necessity, the center of attention will shift towards Donald Tusk and his team. The initiative, political strength, and agency will lie with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and ministers will present draft laws and solve current problems. Hołownia’s five minutes might then end. The Sejm sessions and the Marshal's press conferences will sooner or later become commonplace for people, especially those who have not been interested in politics until now. And the most important political decisions will likely be made outside the Sejm.” -- HOŁOWNIA AND TUSK WILL BE DOOMED TO SYSTEMIC CONFLICT IN THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS - LIPIŃSKI CONTINUES ON TYGODNIK POLITYKA'S PORTAL: “This situation may mean that Hołownia and Tusk will be doomed to systemic conflict in the coming months and years. Although on Friday they stood shoulder to shoulder at a joint press conference regarding the schedule for appointing Tusk's government, and it wasn't apparent between them. It seems there is chemistry between the Marshal and the future Prime Minister, although Hołownia appeared more nervous than usual (and more so than Tusk).” -- THE NOVELTY EFFECT WILL WEAR OFF, MONTHS OF GRAY REALITY WILL ARRIVE, AND WITH TIME, THE FIRST INEVITABLE STUMBLES, MISTAKES, AND DISPUTES WITHIN THE DEMOCRATIC COALITION - WRITES ŁUKASZ LIPIŃSKI: “In this race, time may not necessarily work in Hołownia's favor, not only because his role will eventually become commonplace for voters. The novelty effect will wear off, months of gray reality will arrive, and with time, the first inevitable stumbles, mistakes, and disputes within the democratic coalition. The aforementioned lack of agency on the part of the Sejm Marshal may prove crucial: Hołownia will be able to speed up or delay a project or debate, but someone else will be responsible for ideas and their implementation.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/2237156,1,nowy-lider-rankingu-zaufania-holownia-ma-swoje-piec-minut-a-kolejny-wyscig-juz-sie-zaczal.read -- REGIME MEDIA ARE SILENT ABOUT THE WIND FARM SCANDAL BECAUSE THEY ARE PREPARING MUCH BIGGER SCALPS. THESE WILL BE GOVERNMENTS OF DISPOSSESSION OF POLES - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “Regime media are silent because they are preparing much bigger scalps. These will be governments of dispossession of Poles. They will dispossess us not only of land for wind farms and Orlen, but also of investments like CPK and likely part of the nuclear power plant construction program, of money in the budget, of a strong Polish Army, of the remnants of Polish media, of sovereign policy, of the right to reparations, of national pride, and everything that doesn't suit Germany. And that's a long list. Germany won these elections. Germany is coming for what's theirs.” -- WE ALREADY KNOW THE SMOKESCREEN: IT'S A CIRCUS IN THE STYLE OF MR. MARSHAL HOŁOWNIA. PRIMITIVE TRICKS AND RHETORICAL PLOYS MOVED FROM THE TVN STUDIO TO THE STATE LEVEL - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “We already know the smokescreen: it's a circus in the style of Mr. Marshal Hołownia. Primitive tricks and rhetorical ploys moved from the TVN studio to the state level. The people are to buy popcorn, laugh at the jokes, and they will ruin Orlen, halt investments (because that is the sense of the appended solutions) and dispossess Poles so that German corporations can erect wind farms in any backyard and earn billions. Poor Poland!” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/672961-to-beda-rzady-wywlaszczania-polakow -- HOŁOWNIA IS SLOWLY COMING OUT OF THE COLD. IN THE HIGH SCHOOL HE GRADUATED FROM, HE IS WELCOMED LIKE THE POPE JUST AFTER THE CONCLAVE. THIS MAY SOON BECOME TIRESOME - GALOPUJĄCY MAJOR IN POLITICAL CRITIQUE: “Hołownia is slowly coming out of the cold. In the high school he graduated from, he is welcomed like the Pope just after the conclave. This may soon become tiresome. And his room for maneuver is narrow. How many times can he provoke PiS politicians during debates? How many times can he tell a pre-prepared joke? At some point, voters will start asking for specifics. About what the Third Way has achieved, what Hołownia's MPs have come up with again. The hit of the last few days is MP Bodnar, who complains that entrepreneurs are trapped by labor laws.” -- BEHIND HOŁOWNIA, AMUSING HIMSELF IN THE SEJM HALL LIKE TADEUSZ DROZDA, POLITICAL LIFE IS UNFOLDING, FROM WHICH ONE CAN NO LONGER ESCAPE - MAJOR CONTINUES: “For now, this must be pleasing. The revenge-starved audience shouts 'crucify the PiS supporter!' and 'finish him off!' in front of the television, and Hołownia drives in rhetorical nails. Everyone (except the PiS supporters) is having a great time. The problem is that celebrity often covers emptiness. Celebrities are known for being known. While Hołownia shines in the Sejm, and journalists look at him with adoring eyes, behind the scenes, the party he leads is operating. A party where MP Sroka – formerly of Gowin – talks about how everyone must be held accountable and that Jarosław Gowin was the most wronged. A party where 24-year-old Adam Gomoła threatens legal action for the suggestion that he received a top spot because his wealthy family sponsored the Poland 2050 campaign. A party where MP Hennig-Kloska lobbied for a seemingly lobbyistic amendment regarding wind farms, forcefully attached to the energy freezing law. In short: behind Hołownia, amusing himself in the Sejm hall like Tadeusz Drozda, political life is unfolding, from which one can no longer escape.” -- THE PATH FROM NECESSARY DECORUM TO POLITICAL CRINGE IS NOT LONG. PROBABLY EACH OF US HAS MET A YOUNG TEACHER IN SCHOOL WHO WANTED SO MUCH TO BE COOL - MAJOR'S CONCLUSION: “The path from necessary decorum to political cringe is not long. Probably each of us has met a young teacher in school who wanted so much to be cool and fraternize with students that it ended in disappointment for both sides when the line of division was too heavily blurred. Hołownia wants to be such a casual teacher, not to say: a catechist, but this oasis cannot be sustained indefinitely.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/marszalek-holownia-miedzy-decorum-a-krindzem/ -- I DO NOT SYMPATHIZE WITH THE PiS POLITICIANS; THEY THEMSELVES PLAYED HARD, BUT THIS ESCALATION OF REVENGE MAY MEAN FURTHER MONTHS ARE EITHER WASTED OR, WORSE, SPENT ISSUING OVERBLOWN VERDICTS, NOT FULLY PROVEN - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ: “I do not sympathize with the PiS politicians; they themselves played hard, but this escalation of revenge may mean further months are either wasted or, worse, spent issuing overblown verdicts, not fully proven. The statements of the new majority's MPs indicate that they are not even pretending to want to clarify anything. They already know everything, have judged everything. Presenting the last eight years as one great theft and lawlessness is propaganda. All of politics is thereby becoming a tangle of mutual aggression and anger. -- I STILL DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE REASONS BEHIND THIS RITUALISTIC SPECTACLE; MORAWIECKI COMES ACROSS AS INEFFECTUAL, POWERLESS - ZAREMBA CONTINUES IN RZ: “I still don't fully understand the reasons behind this ritualistic spectacle. Is the benefit of Mateusz Morawiecki delivering another speech called an exposé worth the final humiliation, even in the form of numerous memes? Is it worthwhile to give Leszek Miller an opportunity to compare Morawiecki to traveling Jehovah's Witnesses? Is demonstrating his complete isolation a good dowry for the local elections? Even if Morawiecki performed better than the leaders of the new coalition, offered more specifics than Donald Tusk, who will deliver the final exposé, he comes across as ineffectual, powerless.” -- SIENKIEWICZ IS ONE OF THE FEW "SMART ONES" IN THIS COMPANY - ZAREMBA STILL WRITES IN RZ: “Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz is one of the few 'smart ones' in this company, who also loves to provoke PiS, even with his brutal language. He allegedly has one task: as Minister of Culture, to take over or destroy public television. Then, perhaps, he will move to the European Parliament, which shows that the stability of this new team and any continuity of policy may not be a priority for Tusk.” -- THE STATE OF MOODS IN POLAND HAS FORCED TUSK TO GENTLY QUESTION THE RADICALISM OF AMENDMENTS TO EU TREATIES - STATES ZAREMBA IN RZ: “For the KO leader, perhaps the most attractive option would be the partial transfer of competencies in many spheres to Brussels. Yet, the state of moods in Poland has forced him to gently question the radicalism of amendments to EU treaties. This leaves his own future even more open. He might wish to become President of the European Commission after Ursula von der Leyen. But if Rafał Trzaskowski aims for the presidency, Tusk may turn out to be the only politician who, in the role of head of government, will be a hope for the 'progressive camp.' He hasn't raised a successor. In this sense, he may be condemned to dealing with Poles.” https://www.rp.pl/plus-minus/art39498571-rozliczanie-pis-i-inne-powyborcze-atrakcje -- TUSK AS A CRITIC OF EXCESSIVE CONCESSION TO THE EU IS A HUGE PARADOX. DURING THE TRANSPORTERS' ACTION, KO MP MICHAŁ KOŁODZIEJCZAK IS BUSY. SO, IS HE AIMING FOR POLEXIT? - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN INTERIA: “Michał Kołodziejczak is busy with the action. Just as he was busy inciting farmers dissatisfied with the cancellation of the EU embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products. Kołodziejczak is a newly elected MP from Tusk's formation. So, is he aiming for Polexit? I am paraphrasing the new coalition's arguments when there was any dispute between the PiS government and Brussels.” -- WE WILL SEE HOW THEY MANAGE TO FORCE ANYTHING UPON THE EU. IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS A WILL IN BRUSSELS TO SUPPORT KYIV, EVEN AT THE COST OF POLISH INTERESTS - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “I would like to advise Morawiecki one thing. Please no longer insist on delaying Tusk's enthronement and let the new team work. We will see how they manage to force anything upon the EU. It appears that there is a will in Brussels to support Kyiv, even at the cost of Polish interests. I am not judging this, but I don't know if this will necessarily change when the parties supported by the EU mainstream finally come to power. And I don't know if these parties are credible when criticizing PiS for leniency towards Brussels. I would like to see what they come up with. What is their plan, especially since Polish farmers, harmed by the lack of an EU embargo, have also joined the protest.” -- PEOPLE PASS THEM BY INDIFFERENTLY. AND IT SEEMS IT WILL STAY THAT WAY. SAD. WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCE FOR OUR POLICY OF SECURING OURSELVES AGAINST RUSSIA? - ZAREMBA ON THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS UKRAINIANS: “Those who encouraged taking the Viktor Orbán path from the beginning are rejoicing. Although, setting aside moral arguments, our geopolitical situation is extremely different from Hungary's. The weekly "Do Rzeczy" features Zelensky's face on its cover with the caption 'Rejected.' This refers to the decreasing willingness to help Ukrainians, even in the USA, which is received with satisfaction in this publication. But I also look at young people who, in the shopping mall I frequent, collect in a can 'for Ukrainian children.' People pass them by indifferently. And it seems it will stay that way. Sad. What will be the consequence for our policy of securing ourselves against Russia? That remains to be seen.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-blokada-na-granicy-wina-morawieckiego-a-co-z-naszymi-relacja,nId,7183819 -- SO FAR, THIS GAME OF FORGETTING AND PUBLIC IMAGE DETERIORATION OF THE OPPOSITION IS NOT WORKING VERY WELL FOR PIS - CEZARY MICHALSKI IN INTERIA: “So far, this game of forgetting and public image deterioration of the opposition is not working very well for PiS. In 'social trust in politicians' polls, the trio of Duda, Morawiecki, and sometimes even Kaczyński, who appeared on this podium in the weeks before the election, has been replaced (in the latest IBRiS poll) by the trio of Hołownia, Trzaskowski, and Tusk.” -- HOWEVER, TO MAINTAIN, NOT TO ANNOY, NOT TO BORE, TO CONSTANTLY PROVIDE NEW PSEUDO-POLITICAL ENTERTAINMENT? - MICHALSKI CONTINUES IN INTERIA: “One can gain the sympathy of this electorate. Today, Szymon Hołownia is aiming for this. However, to maintain, not to annoy, not to bore, to constantly provide new pseudo-political entertainment? In today's post-politics, this is a challenge as significant as energy prices, teachers' salaries, dealing with trade unionists, or the necessity of defending a sovereign Poland and a sovereign Europe between Putin and Trump.” -- FOR NOW, HOWEVER, THE ELECTORATE REMAINS MORE BORED WITH THE DEPARTING POWER - MICHALSKI'S CONCLUSION IN INTERIA: “Kaczyński, Morawiecki, and Duda believe that this segment of the electorate will quickly become bored with its own choice. For now, however, it remains more bored with the departing power.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-jak-zapomniec-osiem-lat-w-dwa-miesiace,nId,7183510 -- EVERYTHING THAT MORAWIECKI AND DUDA SAY OR PLAN MAY TURN OUT TO BE A MERE HOPE, BECAUSE IN THE COUNTRY KACZYŃSKI WILL ANNUL IT. AS A RESULT, BOTH WERE TREATED MORE OR LESS DISMISSIVELY. AND THEY LACKED THE POWER TO BREAK THROUGH - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “Morawiecki – I have heard this many times from PiS club MPs – simply misled Kaczyński on European matters. Similarly, Donald Trump's officials did, to avoid harmful decisions by the US President. (...) The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle: Kaczyński partly knew that Morawiecki was playing a double game, saying one thing in Brussels to present himself as the last European in the PiS camp, and another in Warsaw, where he railed against Eurocrats and the terrible European Commission. Nevertheless, our partners from the EU and the USA were well aware that everything Morawiecki and Duda said or planned might turn out to be a mere hope, because in the country, Kaczyński would annul it. As a result, both were treated more or less dismissively. And they lacked the power to break through.” -- TALKS WITH THE POLISH PRIME MINISTER ARE SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT IS TUSK WHO TRULY RULES - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES IN GW: “Today, the situation is changing diametrically. Donald Tusk enters the stage, who knows all the significant players on the international arena. And – importantly – he is decisive. Talks with the Polish Prime Minister are significant because it is Tusk who truly rules. Of course, he must coordinate everything with his coalition partners – with the Third Way and the Left – but there is consensus within the coalition on foreign affairs. If significant differences of opinion arise, they will more likely concern domestic matters, not foreign policy.” -- SIKORSKI IS ASSERTIVE IN TALKS WITH THE BIGGEST PLAYERS, UNLIKE PiS POLITICIANS WHO ADOPTED A SUBMISSIVE STANCE TOWARDS THE USA - WRITES WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “Now he will put his trusted man, Radosław Sikorski, there, who, although he has an unfiltered tongue, also has great international experience and is assertive in talks with the biggest players, unlike PiS politicians who adopted a subservient stance towards the USA. Most likely, the policy of balance will return: good relations with both the EU, France, and Germany, and on the other hand, with the USA. Combined with ruthless negotiations in Poland's interest, utilizing a game with both sides across the ocean.” -- THE NEW POLISH GOVERNMENT HAS THE CARDS TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE USA. THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ISSUE, FOR EXAMPLE, WILL BE A TEST - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES IN GW: “The new Polish government has the cards to be more effective in negotiations with the USA. The nuclear power plant issue, for example, will be a test: to what extent the new team will manage to negotiate more benefits from the Americans than PiS.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,30458747,morawiecki-w-sprawach-europejskich-stosuje-taktyke-na-urzednika.html -- ATOMIC ENERGY IS THE FUTURE OF CLEAN, SAFE, AND STABLE ENERGY, IT IS THE FUTURE OF A JUST ENERGY TRANSFORMATION – EMPHASIZED PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA, ACCEPTING IN DUBAI ON SATURDAY A DECLARATION TO TRIPLE GLOBAL NUCLEAR ENERGY PRODUCTION CAPACITY BY 2050. https://wpolityce.pl/swiat/672966-prezydent-duda-atom-jest-przyszloscia-bezpiecznej-energii -- IN A SITUATION WHERE MORE AND MORE MEDIA ARE SHIFTING TO IDENTITY-BASED POSITIONS, SUCH A MISSION WOULD JUSTIFY THE SENSE OF PUBLIC MEDIA. IN AN IDEAL SCENARIO, THEY COULD BECOME A SPACE FOR DEBATE, WHICH IS INCREASINGLY FADING IN POLAND TODAY - JAKUB MAJMUREK IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “Of course, this would require a complete reset of the current public media and rebuilding the social contract connecting them with citizens virtually from scratch – but in a situation where more and more media are shifting to identity-based positions, such a mission would justify the sense of public media. In an ideal scenario, they could become a space for debate, which is increasingly fading in Poland today. Identity bubbles do not want to talk to each other; politicians practically do not give interviews to media considered not friendly enough. If the public sphere is not to continue to disintegrate into diverging islands, some meeting place is needed. A place where a free-marketeer will face difficult questions from a left-wing journalist, and a politician from the Razem party will face a well-prepared neoliberal publicist.” -- PUBLIC MEDIA ARE ALSO NEEDED AS A WINDOW TO THE WORLD, IN A SITUATION WHERE MEDIA ARE CUTTING FUNDS FOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS - MAJMUREK CONTINUES IN KRYTYKA: “Public media are also needed as a window to the world, in a situation where media are cutting funds for foreign correspondents, and they write about the world outside Poland mainly on the occasion of major crises or breakthrough elections. On the other hand, they should also provide content related to local political life.” -- WILL THE NEW MAJORITY RESIST THE TEMPTATION OF MANUAL CONTROL - MAJMUREK'S CONCLUSION IN KRYTYKA: “These are, of course, all very preliminary ideas; inventing media after PiS will require a lengthy discussion. The question remains whether the new majority will resist the temptation of manual control and finally give public media the space they need to operate.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/nie-wystarczy-by-kanie-rachonie-i-telewizje-republiki-przestaly-nam-odbierac-smak-zycia/ -- PKO BP ANALYSTS: POLISH INDUSTRY SHIFTS INTO HIGHER GEAR. IN NOVEMBER, PMI SURGES PAST THE HIGHEST FORECAST https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/12/01/analitycy-pko-bp-polski-przemysl-wrzucil-wyzszy-bieg-w-listopadzie-pmi-z-impetem-przebil-najwyzsza-prognoze/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Joanna Szczęsna, Henryk Majewski, Robert Golański. SUNDAY: Ewa Kopacz, Bogusław Sonik, Małgorzata Sadurska, Jacek Gądek, Jakub Rutnicki.