-- 22 YEARS AGO, A POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE – the publication of an article in Gazeta Wyborcza started the Rywin affair. -- SIX YEARS AGO, BISHOP TADEUSZ PIERONEK PASSED AWAY. -- THREE YEARS AGO, PAD VETOED LEX TVN. -- THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT IS ALSO CROSSING BOUNDARDS, ENTERING A MONASTERY, THE GRAVITY OF THE CASE DOES NOT JUSTIFY SUCH A STEP - MONIKA OLEJNIK IN GW: “The current government is also crossing boundaries by entering the Dominican monastery in search of a person accused of participating in an organized criminal group. The gravity of the case does not justify such a step.” -- I WANTED TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOU, BUT I'M NOT SAYING "FAREWELL" BECAUSE IT'S A PRELUDE TO NEW MEDIA IDEAS - WRITES OLEJNIK IN GW: “It wasn't an easy year for me. A few months ago, it turned out I had cancer, I was in shock. I didn't give up, I quickly returned to work after the surgery and started writing columns. I urge you once again: get yourselves checked, and don't give up after the tests.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,31572232,nie-zegnam.html -- INTEL? I DON'T KNOW. MINISTRIES ARE WASHING THEIR HANDS - MACIEJ MIŁOSZ IN RZ: “While it is difficult to blame the Polish government for Intel's global plans, the fact that we are doing nothing to try to attract other factories of this kind to Poland is solely the fault of the Polish government. Many politicians from the previous and current governments wanted to bask in the warmth of the potential success of Intel's huge investment. Unfortunately, none of them are eager today for organic work without a guarantee of success.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-ekonomiczne/art41613201-maciej-milosz-intel-nie-znam-ministerstwa-umywaja-rece -- I WAS DISAPPOINTED BY OUR RULING COALITION - DANIEL OLBRYCHSKI UNEXPECTEDLY SAID ON DZIEŃ DOBRY TVN: "I would like to mention two more disappointments of the past year. Two such deepest disappointments. The first, a global one – I was disappointed by American society, which has always led the way in its elections" – Olbrychski began, then added: And I was disappointed by our ruling coalition, which artists support, as best they can, with a 99 percent choice of a culture minister who is a disgrace to Polish culture and to this coalition – stated Daniel Olbrychski sharply, whose wife has been a member of Civic Platform since 2015.” https://plejada.pl/newsy/daniel-olbrychski-bezpardonowo-zaatakowal-hanne-wroblewska-tak-mowi-o-minister/lns284c -- IF MENTZEN ACHIEVES A SOLID TEENAGE PERCENTAGE, IT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY STRENGTHEN THE ALREADY GROWING CONFEDERATION IN THE POLLS - PROF. ANTONI DUDEK IN CONVERSATION WITH JAKUB MAJMUREK IN NEWSWEEK: “Polls currently indicate that Sławomir Mentzen. If he achieves a solid double-digit percentage, it will significantly strengthen the Confederation, which is already growing in the polls. If this trend continues until the 2027 elections, it would mean that PiS will not return to power on its own.” -- PROF. DUDEK ASSESSES MENTZEN AND HOŁOWNIA AS UNDERSTUDIES: “Mentzen is in some sense a "dubler" of Nawrocki, capable of taking his votes if this candidacy completely collapses, just as Hołownia is a "dubler" of Trzaskowski.” -- IF BEFORE THE SECOND ROUND, A SUFFICIENTLY LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE ECONOMIC SITUATION - PROF DUDEK WHEN ASKED BY MAJMUREK IF HE SEES ANY PATH TO VICTORY FOR NAWROCKI: “I see one. If, before the second round, a sufficiently large group of people are dissatisfied with the economic situation, they might vote for Nawrocki not so much against Trzaskowski, but against the Tusk government. This is because presidential elections in Poland are often treated as a manifestation of support or lack of support for the government. The biggest problem for Trzaskowski will therefore be the assessment of the Tusk government.” -- AT THIS STAGE OF THE CAMPAIGN, I WOULD ADVISE TRZASKOWSKI'S CAMPAIGN TEAM TO CONSIDER HANDLING THE ABORTION ISSUE BY COMBINING THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WITH A REFERENDUM - PROF. DUDEK FURTHER AT MAJMUREK'S: “At the same time, however, at this stage of the campaign, I would advise Trzaskowski's campaign team to consider handling the abortion issue by combining the presidential election with a referendum on this matter. This should be supported by the entire ruling coalition, including the PSL, which has actually proposed it itself. Nawrocki and Mentzen, on the other hand, cannot. So far, politicians have not fared well by combining elections with referendums – as PiS learned in 2023. However, the issue of abortion genuinely ignites strong social emotions today, and the dividing line – according to research – runs more favorably here for the Civic Platform candidate than for the PiS candidate.” -- PROGNOSES ARE RARELY CORRECT, LATER KOMOROWSKI WENT TO JAPAN, SUPPORT FOR DUDY AND KUKIZ STARTED TO RISE SHARPLY - PROF. DUDEK STILL IN NEWSWEEK: “Prognoses are rarely correct. I remember in January 2015, I was talking with serious analysts, they predicted that Komorowski had a chance to win in the first round, and I was trying to convince them that it would only be in the second. And then Komorowski went to Japan, support for Duda and Kukiz started to rise sharply, and the elections turned out completely differently, so there is really no point in predicting the unpredictable.” https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/polityka/prof-antoni-dudek-kampania-prezydencka-w-polsce-jest-po-prostu-wielkim-oszustwem/2fw2rvg -- JUDGE IGOR TULEYA AFTER A YEAR OF DONALD TUSK'S GOVERNMENT: I AM DISAPPOINTED, MORE CHAOS THAN UNDER PIS - TITLE IN RZ. -- JUDGES ARE DISAPPOINTED. HALF OF MY DEPARTMENT STILL CONSISTS OF NEO-JUDGES - JUDGE IGOR TULEYA IN CONVERSATION WITH MATEUSZ MIKOWSKI IN RZ: “However, the key issue of neo-judges remains unresolved. After all, it was possible to prepare some concrete legislative proposals on this matter within a year. And what is happening? From time to time, some proposals appear, then they are changed for various reasons. There is a lack of consistency and determination here. Judges are disappointed. Half of my department still consists of neo-judges. We still have the problem of whether to rule with them or not, and citizens have no certainty whether the rulings issued by them are stable and final. I am also disappointed by this. -- THIS IS AGAIN THE RESULT OF INCONSISTENCY, IN THIS CASE OF THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION. BECAUSE THE COMMISSION IN SOME SITUATIONS TREATS THE CHAMBER OF EXTRAORDINARY CONTROL AS A COURT, AND IN OTHERS IT CONTESTS IT - FURTHER TULEYA AT MIŁKOWSKI IN RZ: “Absolutely, I can imagine a situation where the elections are contested. Every scenario is possible in our country. However, this is again the result of inconsistency, in this case of the National Electoral Commission. Because the commission, in some situations, treats the Chamber of Extraordinary Control as a court, and in others it contests it. This should not be the case, and the issue of the status of neo-judges should have been resolved long ago.” -- I THINK 12 MONTHS IS ENOUGH TIME FOR CODIFICATION COMMISSIONS TO PRESENT CONCRETE PROPOSALS AND FOR THEM TO BE PROCESSED BY PARLIAMENT - FURTHER JUDGE TULEYA IN RZ: “I think deeply and I have to state that I do not see any fundamental changes in the procedure. It is puzzling why the ministry has not been able to carry out a major reform in this area over the past year. I think 12 months is enough time for the codification commissions to present concrete proposals and for them to be processed by parliament. I suspect that there would not be major resistance in the Sejm to improving the procedure and thus the efficiency of court work. In the penal code, the definition of rape has been changed, which is positive news and perhaps the only one. I don't recall any other significant changes in the code.” -- INDEED, ONE CAN GET THAT IMPRESSION, AND I ALSO GET IT - JUDGE TULEYA WHEN ASKED BY MIŁKOWSKI IN RZ IF HE DOES NOT GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THERE IS MORE CONFUSION AND CHAOS IN THE POLISH JUDICIARY THAN UNDER THE PIS GOVERNMENT: “Indeed, one can get that impression, and I also get it. On the one hand, restoring the rule of law is never painless, and on the other hand, this chaos probably stems from the inconsistency of the ruling politicians and some institutions. I am thinking, for example, of the prosecution and other institutions directing various letters and cases to the neo-KRS, to the neo-chambers of the Supreme Court, while at the same time declaring that they see the flaws of these bodies.” https://www.rp.pl/sady-i-trybunaly/art41614261-sedzia-igor-tuleya-po-roku-rzadow-donalda-tuska-jestem-rozczarowany-chaos-wiekszy-niz-za-pis -- TUSK ON THE MAGDEBURG ATTACK LIKE ORBÁN. THE PRIME MINISTER'S POST UNFORTUNATELY MAKES NO SENSE - PIOTR PACEWICZ IN OKO.PRESS: “In the case of Taleb A., asylum law would be as helpless after the government amendment as it is now. Tusk's use of the Magdeburg tragedy as a political argument brings to mind Orbán or the PiS populists. (...) This is one of the manifestations of the government's shift to the right, or as Andrzej Leder called it, the "endecian bite" of Polish liberals.” -- UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME DONALD TUSK AND HIS PARTY HAVE USED ANTI-REFUGEE RHETORIC, AS IN THE TIME OF PIS RULE - FURTHER PACEWICZ IN OKO.PRESS: “Taleb A. as a foreigner from whom Tusk wants to protect us, strengthens the anti-refugee narrative and, regardless of intentions, intensifies the fear of refugees and migrants. They must be stopped from committing crimes they might commit here, and the authorities are promising just that. Unfortunately, it is not the first time that Donald Tusk and his party have used anti-refugee rhetoric, as they did during PiS rule.” https://oko.press/tusk-o-zamachu-w-magdeburgu-jak-orban-wpis-premiera-niestety-nie-ma-sensu -- WHO WILL ADOPT THE POLITICALLY ORPHANED ENTREPRENEURS? A YEAR AFTER THE 15 OCTOBER COALITION GOVERNMENT, ENTREPRENEURS HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL ORPHANED - KRZYSZTOF ADAM KOWALCZYK IN RZ: “In the coalition, which is focused on settling the excesses of the previous government and unraveling the Gordian knot of the rule of law, a crowd of entrepreneurship advocates is not visible. One Ryszard Petru, campaigning for a lower health contribution or opposing the "bomb" addition of an extra statutory day off, does not make a spring.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-ekonomiczne/art41620311-krzysztof-adam-kowalczyk-kto-przygarnie-osieroconych-politycznie-przedsiebiorcow -- BIRTHDAYS: Magda Łucyan, Janusz A. Majcherek.