-- 21 YEARS AGO: A POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE - the publication of an article in Gazeta Wyborcza initiated the Rywin affair. -- FIVE YEARS AGO: BISHOP TADEUSZ PIERONEK PASSED AWAY. -- TWO YEARS AGO: The President Vetoed the Lex TVN Bill. -- "NO SUDDEN WORK ON THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSALS, NOR AN EXTRAORDINARY SEJM SESSION" - ONE OF THE DEPUTY MINISTERS TELLS US - IWONA SZPALA IN GW: “- Everything is under control. There will be no Sejm session, no work on what the president proposes. It is not he who shapes the state's financial policy, nor is it his role to schedule the Sejm's work. Funds for the raises are allocated in the 2024 budget, which he cannot veto – we hear from a deputy minister. – And I assure you, the government has ways to meet its commitments, it doesn't need a supplementary budget law. After what Andrzej Duda did, the situation requires certain adjustments, a different way of fulfilling commitments. But we will manage with the budget by the end of January anyway.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30541308,rzad-tuska-nie-boi-sie-grozb-dudy-w-tle-walka-o-tvp.html -- PROGRAMMATIC INSULARITY AND BLIND DEFENSE OF FORMER PRIVILEGES PREVENT PIS FROM BROADER MOBILIZATION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT - MAREK BEYLIN IN GW: “This is a huge bonus for the ruling coalition. Because PiS's radicalism, threats, and insults effectively unite the government, masking differences and disputes among the parties in power. Meanwhile, programmatic insularity and the blind defense of former privileges prevent the party from broader mobilization against the government. However, poison seeps from this bonus. A poorly functioning opposition also harms the government. It lulls it and makes it blind to social problems and sentiments.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,30541197,opozycja-tlustych-kotow.html -- TOTAL STALEMATE AROUND PUBLIC MEDIA. DOES PLATFORMA HAVE A PLAN B? - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “However, when the Minister of Culture's actions are criticized by Professor Ryszard Piotrowski or the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, an ordinary citizen – even one who was outraged by PiS propaganda in state media – has the right to feel confused. And has the right to ask what this chaos is all about. Its continuation benefits PiS and the right-wing camp, which is having a great time with it. Does PO have any idea to break this crisis?” -- WHAT WILL BE THE RULING CAMP'S RESPONSE? IT'S HARD NOT TO NOTICE THAT IT HAS FOUND ITSELF ON THE DEFENSIVE - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI FURTHER IN RZ: “What will be the ruling camp's response? It's hard not to notice that it has found itself on the defensive. Journalists are posing a whole series of questions about the legality of the culture minister's actions, examining resolutions appointing new supervisory boards, Salon24 has reported on the existence of the 'Wejście' group on a messenger platform, where lawyers and journalists associated with the ruling camp, taking over state media, are discussing what a public relations disaster it will be for the new government if it shows impotence. But this is exactly the impotence we are seeing today. Simultaneously, there are reports of such absurd behavior by the new TVP authorities as deleting materials created under PiS from streaming services, episodes of 'Wiadomości', the documentary film slandering Donald Tusk titled 'Reset', and numerous other programs, including historical ones.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39618871-michal-szuldrzynski-totalny-pat-wokol-mediow-publicznych-czy-platforma-ma-plan-b -- KOBOSKO: THERE WILL BE A MAJOR LAW ON PUBLIC MEDIA, WE HAVE STARTED TALKS, NEGOTIATIONS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/12/27/ -- THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO "CHARGE FORWARD" AFTER THE WAVE OF CRITICISM FOR THE MANNER OF TAKING OVER THESE MEDIA FROM LAW AND JUSTICE - ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ IN INTERIA: “The first, faster and simpler, stage is the liquidation of the National Media Council. - This is a simple matter, as we can rely on a Senate bill from the previous term. A draft of such a law should be ready in January – one of our sources reveals. The second stage, much more complicated and time-consuming, is the preparation of a new law on radio and television, i.e., the so-called large media law. - It is necessary, and all sides, including the president, admit this – an important politician from the parliamentary majority tells us. According to our information, work on the so-called large media law will take much longer than on the liquidation of the National Media Council. There is a conviction in government circles that it is unlikely the law will reach the Sejm in the first quarter of 2024.” -- "SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ENTER A SEWER, YOU HAVE TO GET DIRTY. YOU CAN'T ENTER A SEWER, DO YOUR JOB, AND COME OUT SPOTLESS WHITE," A POLITICIAN IN POWER TELLS ROGOJSZ: ”Another of our contacts, a politician from the government: - Sometimes when you enter a sewer, you have to get dirty. You can't enter a sewer, do your job, and come out spotless white. You come out very dirty, but then you take a shower and everything is fine. Ultimately, the image costs of the entire operation only reinforced the parliamentary majority's belief that a thorough reform of these media is necessary. Otherwise, it will not be possible to rebuild their market position and credibility, and the media themselves will become a valuable toy, snatched from hand to hand by successive formations taking power in the state with each election.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-przejecie-to-dopiero-poczatek-ida-wielkie-zmiany-w-mediach-p,nId,7232032 -- NEW TVP IN ITS FIRST NEWS PROGRAM PRESENTED NOT "DEPOLITICIZATION" BUT THE OMISSION OF IMPORTANT TOPICS - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN INTERIA: “New TVP, in its first news program, presented not 'depoliticization' but the omission of important topics. There was never any prospect of true public media in Poland. The takeover of the building on Woronicza by 'burly men' changes nothing here.” -- TUSK'S HATRED FOR THE PROPAGANDA AIMED AT HIM, OFTEN CRUDE, IS TO SOME EXTENT UNDERSTANDABLE. EVEN IF SOME OF TVP'S ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HIM WERE JUSTIFIED - AS IS THE CASE WITH THE FACTS PRESENTED IN THE SERIES "RESET" - ZAREMBA FURTHER IN INTERIA: “On the one hand, the impulse for revenge, particularly in the case of TVP, can be somewhat understood. The staff of TVP Info or the Wiadomości team took no prisoners. They didn't even try to win over the less convinced, to play at marking debates with not necessarily predetermined verdicts. To this day, it remains a mystery to me whether PiS would have lost or gained more with a more nuanced TVP. There is no way to check this. However, Tusk's hatred for the often crude propaganda directed at him is understandable to some extent. Even if some of TVP's accusations against him were justified – this is the case, for example, with the facts presented in the series 'Reset'. -- THIS CHANGE IS TRULY BEING CARRIED OUT WITH A VIOLATION OF THE LAW - ZAREMBA CONTINUES TO WRITE IN INTERIA: “For now, however, the new rulers are paying one price for swift revenge. This change is truly being carried out with a violation of the law. President Duda's helpless appeals are justified. Swarms of lawyers argue that it is otherwise, but this only proves that no one in Poland is impartial anymore. The Commercial Companies Code cannot be fully applied to institutions anchored in separate laws. If a law describes the procedure for appointing and dismissing the authorities of these companies, its provisions are paramount. Let's add the absurd reliance on a Sejm resolution. This is merely an expression of the new majority's opinion.” -- IT IS HARD NOT TO FEEL DISGUST - ZAREMBA FURTHER IN INTERIA: “When one adds the unaesthetic form of taking over institutions, strange people entering buildings, turning off programs, escorting others out of offices, it is hard not to feel disgust. At the same time, when one listens to stories about public media from 2016-2023 as some terrible anomaly, one wants to recall that this is merely an effect of a certain process – with many fathers.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-nowa-tvp-odpolityczniona-wolne-zarty,nId,7225677 -- DOES THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC HAVE ITS OWN SECURITY GUARDS WHO WILL ENFORCE RESOLUTIONS, LAWS, RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONS - CEZARY MICHALSKI IN INTERIA: “Today, the question arises whether the government of the Republic has its own security guards who will enforce resolutions, laws, restore the Constitution and constitutional institutions in Poland. A Constitutional Tribunal in place of Przyłębska's tribunal, a National Council of the Judiciary in place of the neo-KRS created by Duda, Kaczyński, and Ziobro for personal and party needs. The First Republic collapsed proportionally to the loss of enforcement, i.e., executive capabilities. Now we will find out if the Third Republic exists, or if it is collapsing. We will find out while having a war on our eastern border. We will find out while having (in the context of next year's elections in the USA) uncertainty about the durability of the most important of our alliances (i.e., NATO). We will therefore find out at a time when this knowledge is truly needed.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-czy-polskie-panstwo-ma-swoich-ochroniarzy,nId,7225640 -- TEN DAYS OF TUSK'S GOVERNMENT HAVE SENT US BACK THIRTY YEARS - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “The political struggle continues, but the rules have been discarded. This will have powerful consequences. Also for the ruling camp, which from now on will always have the devilish temptation to break resistance, protest, or independence by sending thugs and police. This applies to political opponents as well as simply dissatisfied individuals. Ten days of Tusk's government have sent us back thirty years.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/675822-jak-nazwac-bezprawie-ktorego-jestesmy-swiadkami -- IT WAS DECEMBER 13TH, JUST WITHOUT THE ARMY - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “It was December 13th, just without the army. But the essence of the matter is exactly the same: the pacification of society, preceded by a years-long campaign of lies and slander against the best government since the fall of communism. A police van brought you to the TVP studio, colleagues. And nothing will change that. You have no legal arguments, which even people from your circle now know. You only have the argument of force.” https://wpolityce.pl/media/675684-do-studia-tvp-wwiozla-was-koledzy-policyjna-suka -- THERE IS NO LEGAL COMPASS OR SOCIAL CONTRACT BINDING FOR ALL - PRZEMYSŁAW SZUBARTOWICZ IN INTERIA: “Regardless of whether the new authorities' actions towards public media fall within the scope of the law or exceed it – there are serious legal opinions for (professors Łętowska, Kisilowski, Romanowski, Kappes, Siemiątkowski) as well as against (Professor Piotrowski, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights) – the situation is extraordinary. At the dawn of their rule, PiS unlawfully stripped the National Broadcasting Council of its constitutional competencies, which was confirmed by a ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal in 2016. It created the National Media Council solely to interrupt the terms of the then boards and carry out purges. It created media that systematically violated the provisions of the Radio and Television Act regarding mission and impartiality. It led to a very dangerous situation of legal dualism, which means that everything can be relativized and there is no legal compass or social contract binding for all.” -- UNDOUBTEDLY, THE LITMUS TEST WILL BE THE DECISION OF THE REGISTRY COURT - SZUBARTOWICZ FURTHER IN INTERIA: “Undoubtedly, the litmus test will be the decision of the registry court. If it recognizes the new authorities of public media, the ostracized defenders of PiS propaganda will lose their arguments, although they will not lose their zeal for partisan struggle against the rulers. If it does not recognize them, Tusk and his team will have a serious problem. Undoubtedly, however, such a state cannot last forever if the new authorities care about the legitimization of their decisions. Public media need to be redefined, a proper media law must be created, and authorities should be chosen through transparent competitions far from politics. I know, one can always dream.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/szubartowicz/news-ogonem-na-msze,nId,7230463 -- KACZYŃSKI WANTED THIS REVOLT - ROMAN IMIELSKI IN GW: “Kaczyński and his political camp face crucial months. Defeats in the April local elections and shortly after in the European Parliament elections, combined with the purging of state-owned companies of party and family nominees (which will begin in February due to statutory deadlines for convening general meetings of shareholders), may lead to the disintegration of United Right. Especially since Kaczyński has not learned from the electoral defeat of October 15th and is only hardening the course that led to a massive mobilization of PiS opponents.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30540917,sprawa-tvp-i-mediow-publicznych-kaczynski-chcial-tego-rokoszu.html -- COHABITATION OF THE GOVERNMENT WITH KING DUDA - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “Except that instead of a Crown Chancellor, Andrzej Duda has Marcin Mastalerz, and he has appointed Julia Przyłębska as his Hetman. This is too weak a team to negotiate with the nation over the heads of its chosen representatives, especially since Andrzej Duda has no chance of wearing the crown for the rest of his life.” https://www.rp.pl/publicystyka/art39620871-zuzanna-dabrowska-kohabitacja-rzadu-z-krolem-duda -- A POLL COMMISSIONED BY THE MAYOR OF WROCŁAW. IN THE SECOND ROUND, SUTRYK SLIGHTLY WINS AGAINST THE CIVIC COALITION CANDIDATE - GW: “A study was also conducted regarding a potential second round of presidential elections in Wrocław, and three pairs of candidates were asked about. If Jacek Sutryk's opponent were Michał Jaros, then 49% of people would vote for the current mayor, 44% for the PO politician, and 7% of respondents didn't know whom they would choose.” https://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,30529262,jacek-sutryk-pewnie-wygrywa-wybory-na-prezydenta-wroclawia.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Magda Łucyan, Janusz A. Majcherek.