-- TRELA: A BIT LIKE THAT [MARSZAŁEK SEJMU DEALING WITH SŁAWOMIR MENTZEN AND KONFEDERACJA]. I DON'T BELIEVE IN SUCH COINCIDENCES IN POLITICS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/03/21/ -- PIS AND KO ARE NECK AND NECK IN A NEW POLL ON VOIVODESHIP SEJMIK ELECTIONS. A SURPRISE IN THE THIRD PLACE AND A CLEAR DROP IN SUPPORT FOR THE PSL AND POLSKA 2050 COALITION IN THE SURVEY FOR WIRTUALNA POLSKA: “PiS, with 29.8% support, has a slight lead over KO (28.1%). A significant change concerns third place. The committee of Konfederacja and Independent Local Government Officials took it in the latest poll with 8.5%. The committee maintained last week's result, but the Third Way – Polska 2050 and PSL recorded a significant loss. In the previous survey, 13.5% declared their intention to vote for the coalition committee of Szymon Hołownia and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Now it is 7.9%.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,30816772,sondaz-na-wybory-samorzadowe-pierwsze-dwa-miejsca-stabilnie.html -- INTERNAL PARTY POLLS MAY HAVE SHOWN THAT KO WILL NOT NECESSARILY OUTPACE PIS IN THE VOIVODESHIP SEJMIK ELECTIONS - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “Most likely, internal polls have shown that it is not certain that KO will outpace PiS in the voivodeship sejmik elections, which are most similar in character to parliamentary ones. Polls a few weeks ago showed a trend that indicated a victory for Tusk's party. But now KO and PiS are neck and neck. (...) Other polls showed a KO victory, but recently surveys have increasingly appeared in which PiS slightly leads KO. And this has great psychological significance; even half a percent can determine the order of electoral committees. Hence Tusk's offensive to strengthen KO at the expense of coalition partners.” -- FOR TUSK, IT IS NOT ONLY IMPORTANT TO RECLAIM AS MANY SEJMIKS AS POSSIBLE, BUT FOR KO TO FINISH FIRST OVERALL - WIELOWIEYSKA FURTHER IN GW: “For Tusk, it is not only important to reclaim as many sejmiks as possible, but for KO to finish first overall in terms of the collective result. This would give KO confirmation of a good trend before the European and presidential elections. A European Parliament election lost by PiS could mean the disintegration of that camp, and that would strengthen Tusk.” -- ABORTION IS A SMOKESCREEN. THE BIGGEST CONFLICTS IN THE COALITION DO NOT CONCERN TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY, BUT THE LAW "ON STATE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTS" - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “Therefore, Minister Czarnecka announced that her ministry will deal with atomic and hydrogen policy, as well as oil and gas issues. This is precisely in the amendment that redefines the competencies of ministries. The government adopted it on March 12. But that's not all: strategic energy infrastructure is to be transferred from the Ministry of Climate to the Ministry of Industry – and this has already significantly irritated Polska 2050, as Minister Hennig-Kloska's ministry will be dramatically curtailed. However, Tusk has bad experiences with the PSL when it comes to energy and raw materials; under previous governments, he was surprised by various decisions, and now he wants to control it completely.” -- IN THE GOVERNMENT, TUSK DECIDES EVERYTHING - I HEAR IN THE COALITION - THERE IS NO POINT IN DELUDING ONESELF THAT ANYONE CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING WITHOUT HIS CONSENT - WIELOWIEYSKA FURTHER IN GW: “- In the government, Tusk decides everything – I hear in the coalition – There is no point in deluding oneself that anyone can achieve anything without his consent. The Leader decides who will be KO's presidential candidate, the Leader will decide who will be a commissioner in the European Commission. And he decides on many personnel decisions within the government's sphere of influence, although, of course, he cannot deal with all of them – adds my informant.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,30813616,aborcja-to-zaslona-dymna-najwieksze-konflikty-w-koalicji-nie.html -- RAISING THE TAX-FREE AMOUNT MAY HAVE BEEN FOR TUSK WHAT THE 500+ PROGRAM WAS FOR KACZYŃSKI – IT MAY HAVE EASED HIS RULE AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE TERM - TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ: “Donald Tusk has temporarily postponed voter dissatisfaction. However, social surveys show that Poles voting for the ruling camp are increasingly skeptical about the government's policies. Raising the tax-free amount may have been for Tusk what the 500+ program was for Jarosław Kaczyński – it may have eased his rule at the very beginning of the term. Despite the non-fulfillment of an election promise, he will remain a hostage to this pledge. And perhaps, even if the budgetary situation does not improve, under pressure from his own voters, he will have to fulfill it anyway, albeit at the cost of social programs to which his electorate is not attached.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-prawne/art40027561-tomasz-pietryga-dlaczego-donald-tusk-ma-klopot-z-kwota-wolna-od-podatku -- THE SCANDAL OF THE ILLEGAL BUGGING OF THE ORLEN CEO, WHICH HE KNEW ABOUT, SHOULD END OBAJEK'S CAREER ONCE AND FOR ALL - MARCIN RYBAK IN GW: “Only a few days ago, when one of the conversations leaked to the media, the former CEO of Orlen publicly stated that recording the CEO of such an important company is a scandal and that he is notifying the prosecution. Why didn't he do it a year ago? This scandal should end Obajtek's career once and for all. Within just two days, I reached four people who told me about the recordings. Apart from an informant from Orlen, who is sure that Daniel Obajtek himself heard a several-minute sample, there is also a lawyer associated with PiS who heard about the recordings from journalists, possibly even in 2022. The other two individuals were former police and other service officers who were to learn about the fact around the parliamentary elections of October 15, 2023.” https://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,30816058,nielegalny-podsluch-u-obajtka-to-afera-tasmowa-pis-ale-tez.html -- HOW ORLEN, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING THE PANDEMIC, ORGANIZED MONEY FOR THE PROMOTION OF A FILM ABOUT ZENK MARTYNIUK - JACEK HARŁUKOWICZ IN ONET: “In the midst of the pandemic, shortly after problems with a contractor who failed to fulfill his contract for supplying masks to Orlen, and a plane sent to China had to return empty, the management of the fuel concern has another problem: Daniel Obajtek promised TVP PLN 900,000 for the promotion of the film "Zenek" about the disco polo star Zenon Martyniuk. Adam Burak, responsible for marketing and sponsoring at Orlen, is therefore calling the CEOs of companies belonging to the concern. "They'll hang us by the balls for this! Help for the health service and all these services, and here we are suddenly throwing money at a film about Zenek" – Paweł Majewski, CEO of Grupa Lotos, objects in a conversation with him. Ultimately, the money is found. Orlen covered almost half a million PLN for sponsorship and on-air advertising of "Zenek", and 158,000 PLN was contributed by Energa, belonging to the concern.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/jak-obajtek-obiecal-kurskiemu-duze-pieniadze-za-jaja-beda-wieszac-za-to/df68mmg,79cfc278 -- PEGASUS SURVEILLANCE. THE LIST OF VICTIMS IS LONGER THAN IT SEEMED - GRZEGORZ RZECZKOWSKI IN NEWSWEEK: “The list of those against whom Pegasus was used unreasonably is said to include over 100 people. This was mentioned a month ago by the vice-chairman of the Pegasus investigative committee, Marcin Bosacki. But according to a "Newsweek" interlocutor who has seen it, more people may have been bugged. In his opinion, even 200. Apart from public figures or their associates, there are people on the list whose names are not widely known. Therefore, without further verification, it is difficult to determine whether they were targets of politically motivated actions or were subjected to surveillance due to suspicion of a crime. As the Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar recently said, the list of people whose phones were attacked is to be "shockingly long". The list of surveilled individuals is one matter, the list of Pegasus targets is another. These, as we hear, may have been as many as 1000. Where does this discrepancy come from? Each attack could have concerned several devices belonging to one person (e.g., a private and a work phone).” https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/polityka/inwigilacja-pegasusem-lista-ofiar-jest-dluzsza-niz-sie-wydawalo/lwf7e7l -- THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BĄKIEWICZ'S PARTY DIRECTLY CALLING FOR POLAND'S EXIT FROM THE EU WAS ALMOST UNNOTICED BY THE WIDER PUBLIC OPINION, BUT IT CAUSED EARTHQUAKES IN THE UNITED RIGHT CAMP - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “And that is precisely why Patryk Jaki and Suwerenna Polska must differentiate themselves from PiS. That is why they must attack Jarosław Kaczyński's party, show that PiS is too soft, too European. The simplest method was therefore to attack Morawiecki and Duda. However, this triggered a chain reaction and revealed further axes of division, disputes, and purely personal conflicts within the United Right.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art40026151-michal-szuldrzynski-kto-sklocil-niegdys-zjednoczona-prawice-to-tworca-partii-wzywajacej-do-polexitu -- BIRTHDAYS: Michał Olech, Rafał Zasuń, Jerzy Jaskiernia, Krzysztof Varga.