-- NEW MINISTER LIKE DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. HE RAISED THE FEE, AND BEFORE THAT CALLED FOR ITS REDUCTION - GAZETA.PL: “The decision to increase the fuel fee was made by the Minister of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak. Meanwhile, internet users quickly pointed out that just two years ago, when he was in opposition, he was against raising it, even calling for its reduction and criticizing the PiS government. Radek Karbowski, creator of "Skrót polityczny" (Political Summary), recalled his post from 2021. "We can lower the emission fee, the fuel fee, the refinery margin, etc. To make fuel cheaper, which each of us pays for," Klimczak wrote two years ago. And he added then that the fee needs to be lowered, "so that fuel is cheaper," because "each of us" pays for it. https://next.gazeta.pl/pieniadz/7,188934,30546992,oplata-paliwowa-w-gore-minister-podniosl-stawki-a-wczesniej.html -- IF THE POLITICIANS OF THE NEW RULING COALITION LACK AMBITION AND ARE CONTENT SOLELY WITH REVENGE ON PiS, 2024 WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE YEAR OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND VENGEANCE - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “However, we will not seize our opportunities if our politics – as in the current dispute over TVP – is dominated solely by the desire for revenge. TVP's propaganda caused such trauma among many opposition voters that the current coalition leaders decided to give the electorate a moment of enjoyment. All scandals and irregularities, according to the rule of law, should be accounted for. But if the politicians of the new coalition lack ambition and are content solely with revenge, 2024 will go down in history as a year of accountability and vengeance, not a moment when Poland met the challenges of history and began building a state fit for the 21st century. Therefore, if there is anything to wish the government for the new year, it is that they be ambitious and not limit themselves to a barren political slaughter that pleases the most bloodthirsty voters”. https://www.rp.pl/publicystyka/art39632751-michal-szuldrzynski-czego-zyczyc-donaldowi-tuskowi-i-jego-rzadowi-na-rok-2024 -- PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA GAVE THE RULING COALITION A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS PRESENT: HE ENABLED THE LEGAL CUT-OFF OF PiS FROM TVP - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “From a political tactics perspective, the president's veto made no sense from the very beginning, considering that the National Media Council, with PiS votes, elected a new CEO of TVP, or rather a counter-CEO, Michał Adamczyk. Duda thus blocked funds for a man from his own camp, perhaps simply not believing that Adamczyk's nomination made sense given that Tomasz Sygut had previously been appointed CEO of TVP by Minister Sienkiewicz. And Duda's veto communicated this to the public”. -- HOWEVER, THE PiS MOVE WITH ADAMCZYK WAS CLEVER, BECAUSE THE NATIONAL COURT REGISTER WOULD HAVE HAD A PROBLEM EXPLAINING WHY IT DOES NOT ACCEPT THIS DECISION - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES IN GW: “On the other hand, the PiS move with Adamczyk was clever, because the National Court Register would have had a problem explaining why it does not accept this decision. After all, it had previously registered changes made by the National Media Council without reservations. Therefore, after Adamczyk's election, Sienkiewicz found himself in a difficult situation. And the presidential veto decision was a salvation for him: he gained a reason to put TVP into liquidation: simply, there are no funds for it”. -- SIENKIEWICZ CAN CALMLY IGNORE ALL ACCUSATIONS, SO PiS IS IN DEEP DEPRESSION - WIELOWIEYSKA WRITES FURTHER IN GW: “Now that maneuver with the commercial companies code is no longer relevant, and Sienkiewicz can calmly ignore all accusations and is not afraid that Adamczyk will be entered into the KRS. So PiS is in deep depression, which is evident from the statements of the party's politicians. Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński talks about how bad the ruling coalition is, but his statements are proof of powerlessness – he uses generalities, as if he had no idea what to do next. But the biggest slump is experienced by Minister Marcin Mastalerek, the president's chief advisor, who is desperately trying to cover up Duda's mistake”. -- SO THAT THE NEW MECHANISM FOR SELECTING STATE MEDIA AUTHORITIES TAKES INTO ACCOUNT POLITICAL PLURALISM AND THE VIEWS AND SENSITIVITIES OF VARIOUS GROUPS - WIELOWIEYSKA'S CONCLUSION IN GW: “At one time, Jacek Żakowski was criticized for asking: are we ready to give TVP2 to PiS as part of political pluralism? The idea itself, taken literally, makes no sense, but I understood Jacek's words as a shorthand. It is simply about ensuring that the new mechanism for selecting state media authorities takes into account political pluralism and the views and sensitivities of various social groups in our country. Unfortunately, this project cannot be realized without a minimum of political culture and openness to compromise from all sides of the dispute”. https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,30544762,to-andrzej-duda-pomogl-ministrowi-sienkiewiczowi-w-sprawie-tvp.html -- LET TVP BE MODEST - BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA IN RZ: “Paradoxically, PiS made a mistake during Jacek Kurski's tenure; the message was so biased that the center could not accept it. This is the same center that PiS lacked to win the elections. Today, this message is needed to maintain influence among the existing audience – the electorate. A "cheap" television in liquidation will cease to serve this purpose. A more modest TVP with a limited budget and a smaller offering will cease to be such an attractive morsel for any subsequent authority and will be able to focus on its mission. It will reduce production frenzy and be forced to reach into its otherwise rich archives”. https://www.rp.pl/publicystyka/art39632761-boguslaw-chrabota-tvp-niech-bedzie-skromna -- DUDA REACHED FOR THE NUCLEAR OPTION AND LOST - JAKUB MAJMUREK IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “However, everything indicates that the president lost this confrontation. (...) The whole situation looks disastrous for Andrzej Duda: the president resorted to a veto, succumbing to the pressure of his former party, took teachers hostage, and as a result, initiated the procedure for the liquidation of public media”. -- IN OTHER WORDS, IN THE FIRST CONFRONTATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRESIDENT PROVED TO BE A COMBINATION OF A PAPER TIGER AND A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP - MAJMUREK CONTINUES IN KRYTYKA. https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/andrzej-duda-weto-tvp-siegnal-po-opcje-atomowa-i-przegral/ -- PLACING IN THE STATE OF LIQUIDATION ALSO HAS ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC, VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PROCESS OF CHANGES IN PUBLIC MEDIA – IT ALLOWS FOR EASY DISMISSALS - KRZYSZTOF BOCZEK IN OKO.PRESS: “Our source connected with the new decision-making circles at TVP points out that placing the company in liquidation also has another characteristic, very important for the process of changes in public media – it allows for easy dismissals. "Thanks to this, it is possible to dismiss, for example, employees nearing retirement, individuals with contracts guaranteeing long severance pay, those fleeing to sick leave or holidays, or those seeking protection within trade union boards. And all this without the need for consultation with trade unions. Simple rules begin to apply – those employed for up to 2 years have one month's severance pay, from 2 to 8 years – 2 months' severance pay, above that – 3 months," says our interlocutor”. https://oko.press/stan-likwidacji-w-tvp-ulatwi-zwolnienia-pracownikow-nowy-szef-tai-dla-oko-press-o-sytuacji-ekipy -- WILL GLAPIŃSKI LISTEN TO THE ECONOMISTS AND RESIGN HIMSELF? - ANNA POPIOŁEK IN GW: “On Thursday, during the presentation of macroeconomic assumptions for the 2024 budget, Marta Kightley, the first deputy governor of the National Bank of Poland, appeared in the Sejm. This is not the first time that Adam Glapiński has not appeared in public and has sent his deputy. Will Glapiński listen to the economists and resign himself?” https://wyborcza.biz/biznes/7,147582,30546988,czy-adam-glapinski-sam-poda-sie-do-dymisji-nie-czekajac-na-trybunal.html -- DO YOU SEE THIS NEW QUALITY HERE? I DON'T - RAFAŁ WOŚ IN INTERIA: “The festival that has been unfolding before our eyes since then is astonishing. Even for the pessimists. Hypocrisy is blinding like a spotlight. Lawyers, who just yesterday were champions of democratic safeguards and minority rights, have entered the government and are proclaiming the majority's right to rule without any brakes. Journalists who shed tears over PiS's appropriation of the media are now lending their faces to putting TVP and Polish Radio into liquidation. Because after all, 'where there's chopping wood,' and so on. Commentators so outraged by the terrible politicization are now suddenly not noticing the political entanglements of the new appointees. And so on. (...) Do you see this promised new quality in all this? This renewal? This salvation and sanitation? I don't. On the contrary. I see the old demons of Polish treachery and boundless stupidity instead”. https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-widzicie-tu-te-nowa-jakosc-ja-nie-widze,nId,7235728 -- LIQUIDATION OF THE CHURCH FUND (UNFORTUNATELY) WILL NOT RUIN THE CHURCH, BUT IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING - PATRYCJA WIECZORKIEWICZ IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “It is therefore not surprising that the hierarchies are protesting much more vehemently against the proposal to limit their ability to indoctrinate children in schools. If Minister Barbara Nowacka succeeded in pushing through a project that includes one instead of two religious education classes per week, it would mean not only less influence for the Church on shaping the minds of children and youth but also over half a billion less revenue from the state budget. Twice as much as if the Church Fund were liquidated without voluntary tax deductions, and such a solution is out of the question”. -- UNFORTUNATELY, IN THE CONTEXT OF RELATIONS WITH THE CHURCH, POLAND WILL NOT SOON GET UP FROM ITS KNEES - WIECZORKIEWICZ CONTINUES IN KRYTYKA: “Unfortunately, in the context of relations with the Church, Poland will not soon get up from its knees. In the most optimistic scenario, by 2025, we will be kneeling before it, instead of lying flat on our faces. A secular state is still a song of a very distant and uncertain future”. https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/likwidacja-funduszu-koscielnego-nie-zrujnuje-kosciola-ale-bylaby-pieknym-symbolem/ -- EVERYTHING INDICATES THAT SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL END UP IN PRISON. WHAT IS DELAYED IS NOT FORGOTTEN - ARKADIUSZ MYRCHA IN CONVERSATION WITH DOROTA WYSOCKA-SCHNEPF IN GW: “Everything indicates that sooner or later they will end up in prison. What is delayed is not forgotten. And their games with not collecting correspondence from the Sejm, which contains the marshal's decision to revoke their mandates, are just a minor delaying tactic for something that is inevitable. To avoid going to prison, to avoid the sentence being carried out, two circumstances would have to occur – either the president would have to issue an act of grace and release them from serving the sentence, or the cassation in the Supreme Court would have to resolve it in an extremely accelerated procedure. But from what I know, it hasn't even been filed yet, assuming the gentlemen plan to file a cassation appeal at all. So, there is no indication that they can avoid prison sentences”. -- OF COURSE, THESE CAN BE TWO DIFFERENT PRISONS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF POLAND. IT IS A MORE TECHNICAL THAN LEGAL DECISION - MYRCHA CONTINUES IN CONVERSATION WITH WYSOCKA-SCHNEPF IN GW: “I don't have such knowledge. It is a decision of the court, in this case, the District Court in Warsaw. It is here that the decision will be made in which correctional facility they will serve their sentence. - So, it's not known if it will be the same prison or two different ones? – There is no such decision. Of course, these can be two different prisons in different parts of Poland. It is a more technical than legal decision”. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30544990,kaminski-i-wasik-moga-trafic-do-dwoch-roznych-wiezien-w.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Eugeniusz Grzeszczak.