PiS Member Crushes President

Falling Support?

“Lech Kaczyński will lose the presidential elections because he is unable to see his own flaws,” said a member of Law and Justice (PiS) on his blog. Maciej Eckardt is the vice-president of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, which makes the criticism even more serious. According to Eckardt, the current President has no chance for re-election because not only has he not gained new supporters, but has lost some of his electorate. He is “disgusted by the poor quality of the passing term of office which has been marked with decisions favouring his party as well as his pettiness, which is not appropriate for a head of state.” Eckardt scrupulously enumerates all the mistakes made by Lech Kaczyński. “Lech Kaczyński will lose because the tough sheriff of Warsaw is gone, disappeared 4 years ago. He will lose because there is nothing that will remain after his 5 years in office.

“The vice-president, nominated by Law and Justice, draws attention to the similarity between Lech Kaczyński and Lech Wałęsa who also lost the fight for re-election. “Both of them did not develop the proper language for communicating in the modern world. Both were stuck in personal quarrels and childish grudges. Both could not distance themselves from politically-oriented disputes, letting themselves be dragged into them, which was a lost cause as the position of the President in the Polish constitutional circumstances is nothing but poor.” Eckardt’s tone becomes even sharper as he continues: “Lech Kaczyński is not my candidate. I am disappointed with his work.” He goes on to explain and enumertae the President’s numerous flaws. “The grotesque dependence of signing the Lisbon Treaty on the results of the Irish referendum, insignificant fights over insignificant issues, an over-active pro-American stance, little intellectual integrity and an incoherent message of his intentions.” Eckardt also points out Kaczyński’s alliance with the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who he calls a satrap. Eckardt’s colleagues from Law and Justice are furious and believe such behaviour is scandalous. Eckardt sees no reason for this outrage and claims that he has just explained his reasons for not voting for Lech Kaczyński and adds that if somebody does not like his comments, it is a pity – “we live in democracy”.
Dziennik

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New Ministers on Tuesday

Not a Happy Man

PM Donald Tusk will reveal the names of the new ministers of Internal Affairs and Administration, Justice, and Sport on Tuesday. The former ministers of these ministries – Grzegorz Schetyna, Andrzej Czuma, Mirosław Drzewiecki – were dismissed in regard to the Gambling Act scandal. Schetyna will probably be replaced by the Lesser Poland governor Jerzy Miller, former chairperson of the National Health Fund (NFZ). But according to Wyborcza sources, nobody talked with Miller about his nomination until Friday. Miller, on the other hand, was not willing to talk to the media and his spokesperson informed us that “Mr Miller will not comment on whether the Prime Minister talked with him or not”. Another name in line for one of the vacant positions in the government is Krzysztof Kilian who was responsible for communications in Hanna Suchocka’s government. He is currently the vice-president of Polkomtel. Kilian has been a trusted advisor to Tusk for many years, they have known each other since the Liberal-Democratic Congress. He would either head the Prime Minister’s Cabinet or be appointed as Minister of Sport. Kilian’s acquaintance highly doubts that Kilian would accept a government position, though. “He was the head of the Cabinet in Jan Krzysztof Bielecki’s government for a few months. It is a front-line job, 20 hours of work a day, full-time flexibility, just like the Minister of Sport in the midst of preparations for Euro 2012. I doubt Krzysiek would accept something like that. As vice-president of Polkomtel he has a safe job and one of the best-paid ones in business”. Krzysztof Kilian was unavailable yesterday and like Miller, nobody talked to him about a possible nomination. The Ministry of Justice could be taken by Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, the current deputy head of the Ministry and a Civic Platform senator. He was also assistant to PM Jerzy Buzek.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Poles Not Welcome in UK

No Poles, Please

Between 2000 and 2006 about two million Poles emigrated for economic reasons and the majority of them settled in Ireland and the UK. However, with the economic crisis not loosening its grip, people who are now considering moving abroad in search of job opportunities may want to reconsider. “They better think twice,” says Barbara Tuge-Erecińska, the Polish Ambassador in the UK. She believes it is immensely difficult to find a job in the current economic situation. Quoted by The Guardian, Tuge-Erecińska claims that people with no knowledge of English have almost no chance of finding a job in England. What is more, the difficulties on the English job market have also struck immigrants who have lived on English soil for some time. “In such difficult times, when there are no vacancies, English public feeling may turn against Poles,” said the Polish Ambassador in The Guardian. A new wave of immigrants may only add fuel to the flame of hatred that burns in England towards foreigners. Tuge-Erecińska also warned against accepting job offers through the Internet because, according to her, it is the easiest way to fall into the net of false job intermediaries. In order to be heard throughout Poland, the Ambassador has asked priests to pass her words onto people living in the country.
wyborcza.biz

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No Shopping on Sundays?

Praising the Lord on Sunday

The Solidarity trade union would like to see a new law introduced that prohibits all kinds of trading after noon on Sunday. “I support it,” says Civic Platform (PO) senator Jan Rulewski; “I support it,” echoes Law and Justice (PiS) MP Stanisław Szwed, who has already forced through a bill that prohibits trade on major national and church holidays. “Sunday trading would start at dawn and last until noon. It would affect both shopping malls and small local shops. The only exception would be made for pharmacies, petrol stations and shops located at  airports and at train stations. Such shops could remain open the whole Sunday just as it is currently,” says Alfred Bujara, head of Solidarity’s commerce department. “We are forcing through this initiative out of concern for workers who in times of recession work much more than they used to. From January to September we have received at least 20% more complaints from people who are being exploited in shopping malls,” claims Bujara. In his opinion it is not uncommon that people are employed part-time, they are paid for part-time work, but are forced to work as if they were full-time employees. Or even work for two employees, because according to Solidarity estimates, there are over 200,000 job vacancies in commerce. Solidarity, during a special press conference in the Sejm, is supposed to soon inform the public about initiating work on the bill. The press conference will be opened by the leader of the PiS parliamentary grouping Przemysław Gosiewski. Jan Rulewski, the PO senator, will be the speaker for the bill.

Concrete Desert

“Working until noon on Sunday is a reasonable compromise between the expectations of the commerce industry, who complain that their profits will drop, and the expectations of employees, who are entitled to free time on Sunday,” says Rulewski. According to the PO senator any kind of trade should also be prohibited on Christmas Eve after noon. “I will discuss the idea with Minister Michał Boni and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Jolanta Fedak,” says Rulewski. Gosiewski does not want to comment on the idea of the unionists, but PiS’s commerce specialist, Stanisław Szwed, is an ardent supporter of the idea. For him, just as for Rulewski, it is another rational step towards prohibiting trade on Sunday altogether. An appropriate law came into force two years ago. “Nothing bad happened then and nothing will happen this,” says Szwed about Solidarity’s idea. What do shopkeepers think of the idea? “I am absolutely against it. Hopefully you did not expect any other kind of answer,” says Andrzej Maria Faliński from the Polish Organisation of Commerce and Distribution (POHiD). “Such ideas harm commerce as a whole. They harm small shops because they reduce the amount of time during which their owners can earn money and they harm big shopping malls, for which opening for a few hours is not profitable. It simply costs too much,” adds Faliński. What are the chances of introducing the new law? Most likely, Law and Justice (PiS) and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) will vote in favour of the new bill while the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) will be against it. The biggest unknown is Civic Platform (PO), but according to Bujara there are many supporters of the new law in PO also.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Opposition on WWII Anniversary

Szczygło and His Pamphlets

“September 1st, 2009 was supposed to be a day of Polish pride and glory. It turned into a day of confusion and national distaste; and Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, became its central figure,” said Jarsoław Kaczyński, leader of Law and Justice (PiS). The leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) thinks the opposite. Grzegorz Napieralski said, “It was a great success for Poland and Poles. The presence of the German Chancellor and Russian Prime Minister on Westerplatte peninsula carries significant meaning; that we all agree on the fact that Poland was the victim of invasion during WWII.” However, Jarosław Kaczyński during yesterday’s press conference made his different point of view clearly felt “Why was Putin invited in the first place? Why? It is a clear sign that Polish politics ended up in the gutter.” Kaczyński explained that “Putin was given a chance to continue his propaganda free of charge.”

He also criticised Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for saying that “every nation is entitled to have its own assessment of a given situation. There can only be one assessment of, for example, Katyń – it was genocide. The Polish Prime Minister giving anyone the right to assess such situations differently is unacceptable,” said Kaczyński. The Presidential National Security Bureau (BBN) also issued a booklet entitled Historical Propaganda in Russia between 2004 and 2009. BBN office clerks needed three months to prepare the pamphlet. In the document signed by the head of BBN Aleksander Szczygło, former Minister of Defence in the government of Jarosław Kaczyński, we read that “Prime Minister’s Putin official visit to Gdańsk which took place on 1st September 2009 should be treated as part of Russian historical propaganda.” According to Szczygło: “Russia strives to deepen political divisions in Poland,” and the latest pseudo-historical campaign in Russia was a response to “progress in finding alternative fuel sources for Poland” and to Warsaw’s reaction to the conflict in Georgia in 2008.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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Russian TV on WWII

Denying History

Russian Channel One (ORT) broadcast a three-part pseudo-historical film on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in which the creators of the film tried to prove that Poland was “Hitler’s first ally”. The film, entitled “The Mysteries of the Secret Protocols” informed Russian citizens that a non-aggression pact between Poland and Germany signed in 1934 made Poland, according to the authors, “the first political ally of Hitler in Europe”. The film’s director, Wadim Gasanov, did not mention the fact that a similar pact between Poland and USSR had been in force for two years prior to that. Gasanov also tried to prove that the Polish Ambassador in Berlin, Józef Lipski, together with the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Konstantin von Neurath, at the time of signing the non-aggression pact also signed some secret protocols which, supposedly, stated that both countries, Poland and Germany, will work to the disadvantage of the USSR. That information was based on newspaper speculation, published in some Western countries at the time. Sławomir Dębski, head of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, who appears in the film and calls information concerning Poles being in league with the Nazi “propaganda” is talked over by the Russian television narrator who claims that the “Polish expert is mistaken”. Viewers also learned that Stalin was reluctant to invade Poland in 1939 and decided to do so after the Germans had begun preparations to create a sovereign Ukraine on the Polish Eastern borderlands.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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PO Going Strong, SD Still Weak

Piskorski Worried

The Democratic Party’s (SD) support is comparable to that of the League of Polish Families (LPR) or the Polish Party of Women (PK).  Support for Civic Platform (PO) has not wavered and is still at 56% compared to two weeks ago – such are the results of the most recent survey conducted by GfK Polonia for Rzeczpospolita. “The results are impressive,” says Jacek Kloczkowski, a doctor of Political Sciences at the Center for Political Thought. However, it still remains to be seen how the KDT fracas will affect PO’s standing. Law and Justice (PiS) faced similar problems when it was in power. It stood firmly in a row against nurses and consequently its standing dropped. Kloczkowski points also to another possible source of trouble for PO – the cuts in the budget. Compared to the previous survey, PiS and the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL) have gained 2 and 1 points respectively while the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) has lost 1 point. The most recent survey was first to gauge support for the new Democratic Party (SD). SD, led by Paweł Piskorski, got off to a slow start and became the party of choice for only 1% of Poles, an identical result to that of the League of Polish Families (LPR), the Self-Defence Party of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona), the Republic Right Party (PR) and the Polish Party of Women (PK).

Piskorski, however, plays down the survey’s results. “I’m not bothered by them. I would be bothered if SD had the same level of support a year from now,” says the SD head. Piskorski highlights the fact that SD is still to launch its media and program offensive. However, in his opinion, had the survey mentioned the names of the respective parties’ politicians then SD’s result would have been better. “I expect that by the end of this year we will have a party which will have bounced back becoming a political alternative recognisable among voters. And come 2011 SD will be contending for a double-figure result in the parliamentary elections,” Piskorski says. According to Kloczkowski, SD stands a real chance of establishing itself as a solid political party. One of its strongest arguments is that even now, in the midst of the economical crisis, money is not a problem for Piskorski’s party. “Everything depends on how well SD take advantage of this chance. Libertas has proven that it is not enough simply to establish a presence in the media to win over voters,” says Kloczkowski. GfK Polonia conducted the survey between the 17th and 19th of June on a representative sample of 1,000 people.
Rzeczpospolita

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Kwaśniewska a Chef?

Not the President

According to the latest polls Jolanta Kwaśniewska (wife of the former President) would beat Donald Tusk in a Presidential election. However, Kwaśniewska will not change her mind and will not be running in the 2010 elections. The former President’s wife adds that she prefers making soup to being a politician. “It is only a poll,” said Jolanta Kwaśniewska in an interview for TVN24. She explained that she “can surprise her husband in many ways and I have made some soup which I am sure he will love,” she added. However, she also made an interesting remark about Donald Tusk. “I think that the PM is too preoccupied with the Presidential elections and is neglecting our economy and this worries me,” she said. According to a PBS DGA poll for Gazeta Wyborcza, Jolanta Kwaśniewska would beat Donald Tusk 57% to 43%. Despite her advantage over Tusk she will not be changing her mind. “My wife is not a politician and she has never wanted to be one,” said Aleksander Kwaśniewski.
Dziennik

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New Power in Euro Parliament

Right-wing Trailblazer?

A week before the elections to the European Parliament the largest Polish opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), has decided to present its vision of Europe and start a discussion on this issue. “Europe needs new initiatives. Europe needs this like people need fresh air,” said PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński during a Saturday election rally in Warsaw where he described PiS as “conservatives who want reform”. As Gazeta Wyborcza writes there were prominent foreign politicians present at the rally, including former Czech PM and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (OSD) Miroslav Topolánek, as well as David Cameron, leader of the British Conservative Party, tipped by many to become the future British PM. Together with Jarosław Kaczyński they declared that after the elections they will form a new group in the European Parliament.

According to PiS spokesman Adam Bielan the aim is to be the third power in the EU Parliament; just after the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats), the Socialist Group and the equally strong Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. “We have made a considerable step towards a better Europe,” said Kaczyński. “European institutions should be effective, efficient and improve cooperation between countries. They should at no point challenge the rights of individuals and laws of the free market,” added the PiS leader. Topolánek mentioned the differences between OSD, PiS and the Tories; however, he said that all three parties share a common view of European integration and the slogan: “More freedom, more realism”. The former Czech PM also said that “The Lisbon Treaty is dead”. Cameron emphasised that “a strong centre-right group will emerge in the European Parliament, forming an alternative to federalist views”. “This is our vision of an open, modern and flexible EU. European nations expect a union of national countries, not a United States of Europe,” he added. “Only through common sense can we create good institutions and introduce moral standards, so they can serve the people. I believe that all three parties share a common sense approach,” said Kaczyński. Surprisingly, there was not a word said about Civic Platform (PO) or the Germans challenging Poland’s borders.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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No School for Six-year-olds

No Education

According to Gazeta Wyborcza the authorities have not managed to convince parents of six-year-olds to send them to first grade. Reporters of Wyborcza have looked at how many six-year-olds will go to first grade in September in Poland’s major cities. With partial results varying from 0.4% in Gliwice to 14% in Gdynia, and with a national average of nearly 3%, the overall results are quite different from what the Ministry of National Education (MEN) had anticipated. In January, the Minister of National Education Katarzyna Hall expected that around 30% of six-year-olds will go to first grade.

Today she says: “I never thought that many parents will send their children to first grade at the beginning of the transitory period. I understand the fears that parents may have about the difference in the way their children will be treated in kindergarten and in school. After all, I am a mother myself”. At present parents prefer their chidlren to stay in kindergarten a year longer. They even prefer to send them to so-called “zero class” in schools, rather than to first grade.  “This shows us that parents have vetoed the change,” says Karolina Elbanowska, founder of the parents’ movement Ratujmaluchy.pl, which is against the new law. She adds: “this is evidence that you cannot suddenly pass new regulations without the necessary preparation and appropriate funds”. According to the regulations of the new Educational Act all six-year-olds will have to go to first grade in 2012. Until then it is up to parents to decide. However, Katarzyna Hall says that “if after three years still not enough parents have decided to send their children to first grade at the age of six, the Sejm can extend the transitory period by a year or two”.

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According to “Gazeta” Wyborcza” the authorities did not manage to convince parents of six-year-olds to send them to the first grade.

Reporters of “Wyborcza” have investigated how many six-year-olds will, in major Polish cities, go to the first grade in September. With the partial results varying from 0.4% in Gliwice to 14% in Gdynia and the countrywide average of almost 3%, the overall results are quite different from what the Ministry of Education (MEN) expected. In January, the Minister of Education, Katarzyna Hall expected that around 30% of six-year-olds will go to the first grade. Today she says that “I never assessed that many parents will send their children to the first grade at the beginning of the transitory period. I understand fears that parents may have about difference in treatment of their children in kinder garden and in school. After all, I am a mother myself”.

At present parents prefer that their kids stayed in the kinder garden a year longer. They even prefer to send them to the so-called “zero class” in schools, rather than to the first grade.

“Those actions show that parents vetoed the change”, says Karolina Elbanowska – founder of the parents’ movement Ratujmaluchy.pl, which is against the new law. She adds that “it is the evidence that you cannot abruptly pass the new law without proper preparations and appropriate funds”.

According to the regulations of the new Educational Act all six-year-olds will have to go to the first grade in 2012. Until then it is up to the parents to decide. However, Katarzyna Hall says that “if after three years still not enough parents decide to send their children to the first grade at the age of six, the Sejm can extend the transitory period by a year or two”.