-- NEW CBOS RESEARCH: GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS: 32%, MORAWIECKI'S GOVERNMENT AFTER THE NOVEMBER 2023 ELECTIONS: 32%. -- GOVERNMENT OPPONENTS: 40%, MORAWIECKI'S GOVERNMENT IN NOVEMBER 2023: 44%. -- SATISFACTION WITH THE PRIME MINISTER - CBOS: 36% TUSK IN DECEMBER, 36% MORAWIECKI IN NOVEMBER 2023. -- DISSATISFACTION WITH THE PRIME MINISTER: 54% - TUSK IN DECEMBER, 53% MORAWIECKI IN NOVEMBER 2023. https://cbos.pl/PL/publikacje/raporty_tekst.php?id=6941 -- 47% POSITIVELY ASSESS TUSK, 49 NEGATIVELY - UNITED SURVEYS POLL FOR WIRTUALNA POLSKA: “47.1 percent of respondents positively assess Donald Tusk in the role of prime minister, with 20.6 percent choosing the answer 'definitely positively'. 78 percent of ruling coalition voters are satisfied with him. 48.7 percent of respondents critically assess Tusk's work as head of government. These are primarily voters of the opposition, i.e., PiS and Konfederacja. As many as 95 percent of them perceive the prime minister negatively. Also, one in five voters for the ruling coalition has negatively reviewed the head of government.” https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/czy-tusk-jest-dobrym-premierem-mamy-najnowszy-sondaz-7108840172464896a -- MORAWIECKI: IN THE SECOND TERM OF OUR GOVERNMENT, APART FROM THE CRISES AFFECTING POLAND, WE HAD TO CONFRONT FOREIGN AGENTS AND THE US EMBASSY IN POLAND. THAT'S THE TRUTH - said Mateusz Morawiecki on wPolsce24 television. https://x.com/kalinowski__/status/1873319630837850524 -- “EVERY MINISTER MUST SOMETIMES MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS”. LESZCZYNA ON DOMAŃSKI - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/12/31/ -- THE NATIONAL ELECTION COMMISSION AVOIDED A POTENTIALLY VERY SERIOUS CRISIS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: The National Election Commission accepted PiS's financial report, thus avoiding a potentially very serious crisis. The PKW faced a hellish choice: the stability of the system or accountability for the abuses of the previous government.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art41633271-donaldowi-tuskowi-zabraklo-instynktu-i-powsciagliwosci -- TUSK SCORES A HAT-TRICK AFTER THE PKW DECISION. THE PRIME MINISTER SCORED ALL THREE GOALS INTO HIS OWN NET - ESTERA FLIEGER IN RZ: “Putting the Minister of Finance in a difficult situation, quoting words that have brought his political camp only defeats for years, and escalating the Polish-Polish war – that is, Donald Tusk scores a hat-trick after the PKW decision. The Prime Minister scored all three goals into his own net.” -- ALL IT TAKES IS A SLIGHT DIP IN POLES' WELL-BEING FOR IT TO TURN OUT THAT THE PRIME MINISTER RECALLED THIS BON MOT À REBOURS AT THE WRONG TIME - FLIEGER FURTHER IN RZ: “So, Donald Tusk's choice of quote is, one must admit, original, to say the least. One doesn't need Jacek Kurski on TVP ('Wiadomości' repeated Rostowski's hundred times endlessly). All it takes is a slight dip in Poles' well-being for it to turn out that the Prime Minister recalled this bon mot à rebours at the wrong time.” https://www.rp.pl/publicystyka/art41633271-donaldowi-tuskowi-zabraklo-instynktu-i-powsciagliwosci -- THE PKW DECISION IS JUSTIFIED, EVEN IF KACZYŃSKI'S PARTY BROKE THE LAW. THANKS TO IT, WE AVOIDED EXTREMELY SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES THAT COULD HAVE DESTROYED POLISH DEMOCRACY. - MAREK KĘSKRAWIEC IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/pkw-podjela-decyzje-pis-jednak-otrzyma-pieniadze-z-subwencji-co-teraz-zrobi-tusk-189411 -- DEMOCRACY RELIES ON PEOPLE LIKE MARCINIAK - TOMASZ PIETRYGA IN RZ: “Marciniak is no 'neo-judge'. He has held his office since 1994, has been connected with administrative judiciary for decades, and additionally, he is a long-time member of the PKW, its vice-chairman and chairman. He is a person who has overseen elections since 2014, and his stance and statements have never raised the slightest controversy. During his tenure, the PKW was also separated from politics by a sealed wall. (...) Judge Marciniak is today a species endangered with extinction. He needs to be protected, not attacked, because democracy relies on people like him.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-prawne/art41630221-tomasz-pietryga-minister-izabela-leszczyna-atakujac-sedziego-sylwestra-marciniaka-trafila-kula-w-plot -- THE OCTOBER 15 COALITION LOST BECAUSE ITS REPRESENTATIVES IN THE PKW STUMBLED INTO AMBIGUITIES AND INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS - DOMINIKA SITNICKA AND PIOTR PACEWICZ IN OKO.PRESS: “The October 15 Coalition lost because its representatives in the PKW stumbled into ambiguities and internal contradictions, and its voters experienced disappointment that justice would not be restored. Political ineffectiveness always hurts. Donald Tusk's action on X will gain support only from the most convinced KO voters; less determined individuals may be discouraged from participating in the second round of the presidential election.” https://oko.press/dwie-sprzeczne-decyzje-w-14-dni-to-kompromitacja-pkw -- MARCINIAK SHOWED HE IS EFFECTIVE IN LOBBYING FOR PIŠ'S INTERESTS. MEANING THE PKW IS ON THE SIDE OF ONE OF THE FORCES - AGNIESZKA KUBLIK IN GW: “So, what will happen when any doubts arise regarding the validity of the presidential elections? There is no institution respected by both political camps that could resolve this. Not the Constitutional Tribunal, not the Supreme Court. And not the PKW. Today, its head, Sylwester Marciniak, showed that he is effective in lobbying for PiS's interests. This means the PKW is on the side of one of the political forces running in the elections. So, right from the start, we have unequal chances.” -- ELECTORAL DEMOBILIZATION. TERRIBLE LEGAL CHAOS DOES NOT BOOST TURNOUT. QUITE THE OPPOSITE - KUBLIK FURTHER IN GW: “Electoral demobilization. Terrible legal chaos does not boost turnout. On the contrary. It can discourage people from politics, politicians, from elections. From democracy in general. If turnout is meager, PiS might win. Their electorate doesn't believe in any scandals; on the contrary, for them, a scandal is supposedly false accusations against PiS.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,31582483,decyzja-pkw-to-alarm-wyborczy-a-nawet-trzy.html -- IT IS DIFFICULT TO BLAME THE PKW – AN INSTITUTION APPOINTED FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT – FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THE CURRENT LEGAL CHAOS - JAKUB MAJMUREK IN NEWSWEEK: “It is difficult to blame the PKW – an institution appointed for something entirely different – for not being able to find a way out of the current legal chaos. On the other hand, it might deepen it. The average observer of public life will understand from the events of recent weeks that the commission changed its mind, contradicting itself, as it first de facto refused to recognize the legality of the Chamber of Control, and now it has recognized its ruling. The fragments of the commission's decision circulating in the media contain a peculiar formulation, further deepening the confusion, stating that 'The PKW does not prejudge… that the Chamber of Control and Public Affairs of the Supreme Court is a court and does not prejudge the effectiveness of the ruling.'” -- THE CREATORS OF THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE OPERATION OF THIS INSTITUTION SIMPLY DID NOT FORESEE THE EXISTENCE OF A POLITICAL PARTY READY TO BREAK THE RULES OF THE GAME SO PROFOUNDLY - MAJMUREK FURTHER IN NEWSWEEK: “This situation is not solely the fault of the current composition of the PKW. The creators of the regulations governing the operation of this institution simply did not foresee the existence of a political party ready to break the rules of the game as profoundly as PiS does, and they did not give the commission the necessary tools to deal with abuses of the scale we observed last autumn.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/newsweek/pkw-okazala-sie-bezradna-wobec-naduzyc-pis-co-nas-teraz-czeka-analiza/p1wtlj3,452ad802 -- WHILE DONALD TUSK DID NOT MANAGE TO KNOCK OUT PIS, HE QUITE EFFECTIVELY DOMINATED HIS COALITION PARTNERS - PROF. ANTONI DUDEK IN INTERIA: “While Donald Tusk did not manage to knock out PiS, he quite effectively dominated his coalition partners. An inevitable change on the political front will only come with the result of the presidential elections. One can only hope that the warring sides will manage to agree on how it will be determined.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-wojna-pozycyjna,nId,7883091 -- BIRTHDAYS: Tomasz Sakiewicz, Sylwester Ruszkiewicz. NEW YEAR: Piotr Pacewicz, Piotr Pyzik, Mateusz Matyszkowicz, Michał Danielewski, Sławomir Piechota, Eugeniusz Smolar, Jan Dworak, Mieczysław Struk, Adam Struzik, Genowefa Grabowska, Leszek Korzeniowski.