The un-Civic Platform of Poland?

All decent politicians urge citizens to vote since that is their sacred civic duty. Not the PO. To save Gronkowiec's skin, they have urged a boycott of the referendum. That's not all. They are trying to figure out a way to disqualify the signatures collected by PiS for that purpsoe. To top it off Komorowski, allegedly 'the president of all Poles', is backing the boycott by saying he doesn't intend to vote.

Not really. In this case, it doesn't make sense to vote if you're a PO supporter, because of the way that the recall law works.


Which is sensible. Why risk losing a referendum when all you have to do is make sure that the voters don't vote? PO can count on at least 40% of the voters in Warsaw abstaining, which would invalidate the referendum. Job done.


Nice of you to admit that it was PiS behind the whole thing.

As for those signatures - the law is clear. They must be checked against the PESEL numbers to make sure that only residents of Warsaw have signed the petition.


Well yes, a President of all the Poles wouldn't get involved in party politics. Common sense.

(is he even registered in Warsaw?)

Are you planning to carry out your sacred duty in the recall election?


Refusing to vote is a perfectly valid way to exercise one's right to vote. I will most certainly be making exactly that use of that right in this election.


Interesting that you now admit that it was PiS who were collecting the signatures, didn't PiS itself claim during the collection thereof that they were not collecting such? Who is lying here: you or PiS?


Tut tut, such disrespect for the President of Poland. Still, I guess that we're used to it, given the way that you now speak about the former President of Poland who used to be your boss.

Neither Wałęsa nor Lech Kaczyński were ever my boss. What ever gavce you that cockeyed idea? For that matter neither was Obama, Bush or anyone else, as I have never worked in any state adminstration or government post.


Any PO supporter should have his head examined. Support that band of crooks, shysters and con artists and their well-connected oldboys and flunkies?!

Under the concept of democratic centralism, everyone worked for the centre, whatever it may be.


What a surprise, PiS (or their supporter) caught lying yet again. It really is becoming amusing to watch.


Harry, as I understand it - you need to go and get the paper from the Urzad Miasta that says that you have a right to vote. That'll make sure that you are registered as having abstained and thus counting towards the total.


Given that PiS tend to be supported by people who disgustingly propped up the Communist regime and then "discovered religion" when they realised that it was more profitable to be Catholic than Communist in the post 1989 reality, PO really are the moral alternative.

And only coincidentally he is heeding the boycott calls of the party that created him.

The moral thing to do as a leader of the nation is not to get involved in party politics. Not getting involved means not voting on such trivial things. Do you not wonder sometimes why Lech Kaczynski was despised by the electorate?

I agree with you on that one. The walking Staph Infection really is a trivial thing. The sooner sre's dumped and replaced by someone like Professor Gliński the better for the people of Warsaw!

Those aren't the ones I was talking about.


I'll probably turn up and then refuse to accept a ballot paper. I'm most certainly on the electoral roll and the polling station is less that 100 m from my flat.


a) That simply isn't happening: this recall election is a waste of time and money, my money to be exact.
b) Are you planning to vote in the recall election? Surely you'll be doing your "sacred civic duty".

As a US citizen I am not entitled to. If I could I would defintiely support the recall.

In that case, perhaps you could be good enough to not tell those of us who are entitled to vote how we should exercise that right. Many thanks, it's our city and we'll run it our way.

Since when does Warsaw belong to aliens? Warsovians are a hospitable lot so you can freely enjoy their hospitality. They let you live and work here and make the money a Pole might be earning, but don't act let your British imperialsm get the best of you and prompt you to act like you own the place. You are only a non-Polish guest and guests should not overstay their welcome.

How is that relevant? Many people who are US citizens are eligible to vote in Warsaw elections.

JKB, check this page, there are Warsaw riddles waiting for you:

Thanks, I'll check it out when I get a few minutes :)

Hmmm...This I do not understand. I am on the voters' register here in Warsaw since a couple of years. So must I again register for the referendum (of course I will abstain, and it should be noted as such) ?


That is perfectly logical. I am curious how many PIS signatures on these lists come from out of Warsaw.

Of course it is! The purpose is for Gronkiewicz to hang onto the trough and perpetuate her misrule at all costs.


So you presumably want to perpetuate the oldboy misrule of Tusk and his stable of political miscreants in which Gronkiewicz holds a prime place.

I look forward to a list of concrete objectively verifiable examples of misrule.

If none is forthcoming I will assume you're just blowing smoke out of your dupa.

The purpose is to disqualify everybody who does not have a Warsaw-linked PESEL. Simple, isn't it?


I wonder why you never took a Polish passport, given the fact you are posing here as the lighting example of Polishness.


As far as I know, only EU citizens have the right to vote in Poland (local and European elections), as per EU legislation. These Americans would have double nationality in this case.

Actually, his agressive bluster about a mythical Poland that never existed, combined with his disinterest in hearing from or living with people in Poland..... is the most Polish thing about him.

Bureaucracy doesn't grab me. It's only a piece of paper. Polishness, pride in one's Polish heritage comes from the heart. That is something a person of alien ancestry will never fathom even if they gave him six Polish passports.

Given your continuous whining about your great leader, I would have expected you to grab the chance to vote with both hands.


Please explain why the cross-checking of the Pesel numbers and consequently the annulment of the non-Warsaw ones is not acceptable.
Could it be that the referendum's organizers suspect trouble from this quarter?

Warsaw is a European city: Europeans are not aliens in Warsaw. I know it can be tough for Americans such as you to understand those facts, but they remain facts, no matter how often aliens such as you lie about them.


I know we are.


I'm glad that you enjoy our hospitality. However, you might want to note that our hospitality has certain limits, so you might want to keep certain of your fouler views to yourself rather than polluting our city with them (in much the same way as you kept quiet about some of your fouler activities when our city was under the heel of the commies and their foul collaborators).


I see that you are lying again. I'm a Varsovian, as reflected by the fact that I am invited to vote here. You, on the other hand, are a non-Polish guest and we Varsovians would be grateful if you could keep your nose out of our business. Thanks in advance.


Just as a marriage certificate is only a piece of paper, right?
As any Pole will tell you, being Polish is the best thing that one can be and real Poles don't ever want to be anything else. I wonder why you reject the chance to be Polish. Surely you have no fear of the back-ground check that comes with acquiring a Polish passport by naturalisation, or do you?

You'll never know how that feels. You will never think, feel or speak like a full-blooded Pole. Your cultural identification bears the imprint of foreign roots. You were never told Polish stories, fables and nursery rhymes nor did your gran sing to sleep with Polish lullabies. And your speech will always display a trace of foreign accent, foreign syntax and foreign thinking. It's all in the blood and genes, whether you like it or not.

And neither will you. As is reflected by the fact that the only way you can get a Polish passport is from naturalisation.


Sorry, foolish American, but it is most certainly not all in the blood and the genes (not that either of those are purely Polish in your case). That truth is shown by the fact that as a Varsovian I can vote in the elections here while Americans such as you are politely told to keep out of polling stations.

Anyway, back on topic: is anybody here who is actually entitled to vote planning to vote in the election? I'm most certainly not going to.

Piece of paper.

Could you perhaps be so kind as to stick to the topic?

Although I suppose we could discuss whether people should have the right to vote in the Warsaw recall election because they think that they are Polish but in reality are not Polish. Would you like to talk about how Warsaw should treat people who claim to be Polish but are not Polish? Should pseudo-Poles who live in Warsaw be allowed to vote in the recall election? Should the kind of person who won't even bother to get a single piece of paper be allowed to have a say in which the city of Varsovians is run?

Who was displaying his intellectual brilliance and going off topic?

imo people with polish papers shoiuld live for about 15 yrs before having a right to vote.

What on earth would you know about Varsovians? How much time have you spent with your feet on the ground in Warsaw?