-- BUDKA: WE AGREED WITH THE PRIME MINISTER THAT HE WILL DECIDE WHEN THE GOVERNMENT RECONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE PLACE. IT MAY HAPPEN AFTER THE MAY WEEKEND - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/04/25/ -- PIS WOULD WIN 20 SEJM SEATS, KO — 18 SEATS, THIRD WAY — 8 SEATS, CONFEDERATION — 4 SEATS, AND LEWICA — 3 SEATS - ONET ANALYSIS BASED ON REGIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS - MICHAŁ ROGALSKI: “If European Parliament elections were held on April 7th, instead of local elections to regional assemblies. According to these calculations, based on the official election results, distributed accordingly across 13 EP constituencies, PiS would win 20 Sejm seats, KO — 18 seats, Third Way — 8 seats, Confederation — 4 seats, and Lewica — 3 seats.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/kto-moze-wygrac-wybory-do-pe-porownalismy-wyniki-z-wyborow-samorzadowych/ -- FRUSTRATION AND DISCONTENT ARE GROWING IN THE ARMY. THE LACK OF DECISIVENESS FROM THE CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP IS AFFECTING NOT ONLY THE TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF SOLDIERS BUT ALSO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ARMED FORCES - EDYTA ŻEMŁA AND MARCIN WYRWAŁ IN ONET: “Meanwhile, frustration and discontent are growing in the army. The lack of decisiveness from the civilian leadership over the army is affecting not only the preparation and training of soldiers but also the overall functioning of the armed forces. — We don't know which way we are heading. Unsigned decisions lie in ministerial offices, announced reforms are stuck in drawers, and the audit that was supposed to show the army's state after years of PiS rule is still non-existent — says an experienced officer, adding that the international security situation has drastically changed in the meantime.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/wiemy-kto-zajmie-najwazniejsze-stanowiska-w-armii-wojsko-jest-rozczarowane/ -- SIENKIEWICZ CALLED THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT A "GRAVEYARD FOR POLITICAL ELEPHANTS." NOW HE'S HEADING THERE HIMSELF - WIKTORIA BECZEK IN GAZETA.PL: “- For now, I'm going to Krakow, to the Słowacki Theatre for Plato's 'The Republic' directed by Jan Klata. That's the first thing. Secondly, this cabinet is not permanent, so every moment must be used well. And please drop the rumors about my death in the graveyard of political elephants – Sienkiewicz replied. After a moment, he added: The European Parliament consists of MPs trying to get ahead and old elephants who are politically dying. For now, I'm not thinking about my political death.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,30917314,sienkiewicz-nazwal-europarlament-cmentarzyskiem-politycznych.html -- CAN SHE BE AN ENHANCEMENT TO THE KO ELECTORAL LIST, GIVEN THE STIGMA OF THE REPRIVATIZATION SCANDAL HANGING OVER HER? THE CONVICTION IN PLATFORMA DOMINATES THAT SHE CAN - MICHAŁ WOJTCZAK IN GW: “Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz is returning from political retirement. Few believed this was even possible after the so-called reprivatization scandal. And yet. At this point, some readers might be surprised: she has recognition, yes, but how is she an enhancement to the list if her career was ruined by the reprivatization scandal? Well, it wasn't ruined, at least not among all voters. (...) Memory has a way of making us look back with more sentiment over time. There is a large group of Warsaw residents who did not experience the consequences of the reprivatization scandal, as they didn't have to move out of a tenement building taken over by businessmen, nor did a block of flats sprout under their window on a reprivatized square. And they walk on the boulevards, drive across the Maria Curie-Skłodowska Bridge, or use the second metro line. Among these Warsaw residents, a significant portion are likely KO voters.” https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,30917861,dlaczego-platforma-obywatelska-wystawia-hanne-gronkiewicz-waltz.html -- IT IS DIFFICULT TO AVOID THE IMPRESSION OF TREATING STATE AFFAIRS CASUALLY WHEN ONE RESIGNS FROM MANAGING SUCH CRUCIAL AREAS AS THE POLICE, STATE-OWNED COMPANIES, OR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC MEDIA FOR EP SEATS - PIOTR ŚMIŁOWICZ IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “Of course, one can understand the participation of important Civic Platform politicians in the EP elections. It is extremely important for this formation to defeat PiS in the European elections after the not-so-well-concluded local government elections. This will be a good prognostication for next year's presidential elections. Nevertheless, the associated casualness towards holding ministerial positions for only four months does not look good. Perhaps there are no irreplaceable people, especially in government positions, but in such a situation, it is difficult to avoid the impression of treating state affairs too lightly, as for EP seats, which are not burdened with too much political weight (but with significant financial rewards), one resigns from managing such crucial and damaged areas of the state after PiS rule, as the police, state-owned companies, or cultural institutions and public media.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/wystapienie-bodnara-oraz-lista-koalicji-obywatelskiej-do-parlamentu-europejskiego-186926 -- MINISTERS AND NEW MEPs ON THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LISTS ARE DONALD TUSK'S POLITICAL CYNICISM - IZABELA KACPRZAK IN RZ: “Voters are merely a tool for politicians to vote. Sending "four-month" MPs, including ministers, to the European Parliament is nothing more than tricking their voters. (...) Platform has just shown its voters that they do not decide at the ballot box whom they elect and to what. It has proven that voters may be there to vote, but not to decide.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art40236361-izabela-kacprzak-ministrowie-i-nowi-poslowie-na-listach-do-europarlamentu-to-polityczny-cynizm-donalda-tuska -- ON THE WAR ON THE LEFT AND BIEDROŃ'S EFFORTS TO GET A MANDATE FOR ŚMILEK - KAMIL DZIUBKA IN ONET: “According to critics of Robert Biedroń, the MEP and co-chairman of Nowa Lewica has decided to step in. He proposed that the leader of the Left's list in Silesia be a representative of the Razem party, which forms a coalition with Nowa Lewica. This would mean that Łukasz Kohut, an MEP who entered the European Parliament on Biedroń's Wiosna list in 2019, would be moved to a lower position. The question remains what this would have to do with Krzysztof Śmiłek's candidacy. According to one theory, Kohut's degradation would cause Lewica to achieve a weaker result in Silesia, thus advancing the constituencies of Lower Silesia and Opole by one place in the ranking of 'taking' districts, which would supposedly guarantee a mandate for Śmiłek.” -- DZIUBKA ON LEWICA'S TOP CANDIDATES: “The top positions on Lewica's lists are to be known by the weekend at the latest. Former Prime Minister and MEP Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz will run and will most likely lead the list in the West Pomeranian-Lublin constituency. Marek Belka is to be the number one in the Łódź Voivodeship. Andrzej Szejna will lead the list in the Lesser Poland-Świętokrzyskie constituency, and Anna Maria Żukowska in the Masovian one. According to our sources, MP Katarzyna Ueberhan was being considered for the top spot in Pomerania, and Paweł Krutul in Warmia-Masuria. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jacek Czerniak could lead the list in Lublin. It is unknown who will run in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian constituency. We hear that former Deputy Minister of Defense and former MEP Janusz Zemke was being considered.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/publiczne-pranie-brudow-na-lewicy-w-partii-tli-sie-bunt -- IT IS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO BUILD SUPPORT AROUND RECKONING WITH THE PiS GOVERNMENTS. BUT THAT IS NO REASON TO ABANDON IT - RAFAŁ KALUKIN IN TYGODNIK POLITYKA: “Parliamentary inquiry commissions have not met most expectations, and this is unlikely to change. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to build political support around the idea of holding the PiS governments accountable. But that is no reason to abandon it. It is simply time for more discreet and effective actions.” -- THE CURRENT MAJORITY FIRST ITSELF FANNED EXPECTATIONS REGARDING PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATIONS, WHICH IT LATER FAILED TO MEET - KALUKIN CONTINUES: “The current majority did not learn from that lesson [the Rywin commission]. First, it itself fanned expectations regarding parliamentary investigations, which it later failed to meet. It was guided, of course, by the mood of the end of last year, when the takeover of power took place in an atmosphere of an anti-PiS carnival, and it seemed that holding the Kaczyński governments accountable would be a breeze, simultaneously fulfilling institutional, moral, and political necessities. The commissions were to complete this first stage before the prosecution could be freed. Their establishment was accompanied by boastful announcements that this was just the beginning, and the coalition parties even competed in ideas for what else to investigate. -- THE ENTHUSIASM HAS SUBSIDED, WHILE THE DISSATISFACTION IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY EVIDENT. HOWEVER, THE EXPECTATIONS WERE OVERBLOWN FROM THE START - RAFAŁ KALUKIN WRITES FURTHER IN TYGODNIK POLITYKA: “However, the enthusiasm has subsided, and dissatisfaction is becoming increasingly evident. However, the expectations were overblown from the start. The general weakness of parliamentary inquiry commissions as a political tool, which has been evident many times in the past, was overlooked. The myth of the Rywin commission unfortunately dominated the public imagination, and it's not entirely true – because although it uncovered quite a bit, the affair has remained unresolved to this day. But all subsequent parliamentary investigations were only able to satisfy narrow tastes, bringing neither particularly impressive knowledge nor spectacle.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/2253967,1,czy-grozi-nam-recydywa-pis-ukryte-sensacje-komisji-sledczych-co-ujawniono-i-co-to-dalo.read -- FROM THE WORDS OF MINISTER OF JUSTICE ADAM BODNAR, IT FOLLOWS THAT A SPECIAL TEAM OF PROSECUTORS IS HANDLING IT WELL. IS A PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY COMMISSION STILL NEEDED FOR ANYTHING? - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “As can be seen, state bodies – especially after removing Zbigniew Ziobro's people from control over the prosecution – are capable of doing it themselves. And multiplying inquiry commissions rather obscures and dilutes the abuses of PiS that require accountability than leads to public awareness of the pathologies that occurred over the last eight years. Especially since this particular commission has not been lucky from the very beginning, when it summoned Jarosław Kaczyński, who, incidentally, did not make key decisions regarding Pegasus.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art40235821-michal-szuldrzynski-adam-bodnar-ujawnia-naduzycia-ws-pegasusa-to-po-co-jeszcze-komisja-sledcza -- FABULOUS SUMS FOR PROSECUTORS' UNUSED LEAVE FROM ZIOBRA'S TIME - EWA IVANOVA IN GW: “The deputy prosecutor general for military affairs, Przemysław Funiok, who retired early immediately after the elections (he returned to a state of rest), received a record amount. Funiok accumulated 158 days of unused leave, so his leave entitlement amounted to PLN 366.5 thousand gross. He received PLN 216.2 thousand net.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,30916858,prokuratorzy-ziobry-i-bajonskie-sumy-za-zalegle-urlopy.html -- TUSK'S BLOCKADE OF THE NATURE RESTORATION LAW MAY COST US MORE THAN TWO TERMS OF PiS RULE - DANIEL PETRYCZKIEWICZ IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “It does not seem that this law, crucial for better life on the European continent, will be passed before the June European Parliament elections. There is also a significant risk that the new composition of EU institutions will not be conducive to climate and biodiversity policies. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Tusk's blockade of the Nature Restoration Law may cost nature and ourselves more than the last two terms of PiS rule.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/tuskowa-blokada-nature-restoration-law-moze-kosztowac-nas-wiecej-niz-dwie-kadencje-rzadow-pis/ -- MOST LIKELY FROM 2025, FULL CONTRIBUTION-BASED ACCOUNTING FOR MANDATE CONTRACTS WILL COME INTO EFFECT. THIS IS ONE OF THE KPO MILESTONES - MIKOŁAJ FINDZIŃSKI IN GAZETA.PL: “The argument for full contribution-based accounting of mandate contracts – apart from the KPO commitment, of course – may also be (or perhaps primarily) money for the government. Higher revenues for ZUS after this reform would mean the necessity of paying a smaller subsidy from the central budget. It can be assumed that we are talking about an amount of approximately PLN 4.2 billion (estimated by Kozłowski as lost contributions from mandate contracts in 2023), although to be very specific: the benefit for public finances would likely be several hundred million zlotys lower annually. Higher ZUS contributions mean a lower PIT tax base, and thus a lower amount of tax.” https://jedennewsdziennie.pl/article/233 -- MAREK CZYŻ'S PROGRAM "BEZ RETUSZU" (WITHOUT RETOUCH) IS WATCHED BY AN AVERAGE OF 82 THOUSAND VIEWERS ON TVP INFO https://www.press.pl/tresc/81497,program-marka-czyza-_bez-retuszu_-oglada-w-tvp-info-srednio-82-tys_-widzow -- BIRTHDAYS: Jerzy Widzyk, Wojciech Szeląg, Anna Kalita.