News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


What's more interesting is that this was a poll commissioned by Kantar for TVP, and previous similar polls have shown PiS with as much as a 10% advantage over PO.

Polly, is it really so hard for you to admit that PiS are making mistakes and that those mistakes could actually be quite easily solved? Fire Waszczykowski and Macierewicz, order ministers to behave with utmost respect in public at all times and hold a referendum on the education reform - and you've eliminated three of the worst issues that they have now.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


That means they almost certainly were facing repeated defeats in the scheduled referenda, and their internal polling told them to back off on the idea before they lost them.

The tide is turning. They have no chance of taking Warsaw in a free election, though I expect they'll try every dirty trick in the book.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


The thing is that we've been here before. The economy was booming between 2005-2007 and PiS still lost in a landslide.


Doesn't matter what the reason is. What matters is who is winning, and PO are doing just that.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

TUSK TO DEFEAT DUDA IN THE SECOND ROUND

Supporters of the "good change" government were in shock this evening after a second poll dealt a knockout blow to their junta. The poll by Kantar MB revealed that in the second round of the Presidential election, Tusk would obtain 50% of the votes of Poles, while Duda would only receive 45%. The public have clearly had enough of the notary Duda, who signs every single act presented to him by the government without fail regardless of the feelings of citizens. By this time in 3 years, the remains of the "good change" will be condemned to history, and Duda will be nothing more than a bad memory.

wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/548470,donald-tusk-andrzej-duda-sondaz-wybory-prezydenckie.htm

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

You should actually watch TVP Lzyko, the propaganda on Wiadomości is so terrible that it's very easy to understand. They've intentionally dumbed down the language,

If you want to practice, compare TVP1's Wiadomości to something like this - youtube.com/watch?v=DGALppOlKnQ - the similarities are hilarious, even down to the very intentional slow pace of speech. The destruction of TVP is quite a story in itself, as they're now losing considerable amounts of money.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Nothing about minimising risk, it's just the old PiS arrogance that they are more important than the public. It's the same reason they've been crashing cars constantly and behaving like they are members of the Politburo in 1980's Moscow. I don't remember British government ministers parking their cars in disabled spaces, do you?

If there was a risk, that car park would have been closed by the local police in advance of her visit. The reality is that Zalewska is one of the most arrogant and incompetent ministers out there, and she clearly didn't want to walk far in the rain.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


You don't see anything wrong with the minister parking her official car in a space reserved for disabled people outside a school that is home to disabled children?

If they were so concerned about security, they would have closed the car park.


It looks like they're headed the way of the US in this respect. There's quite a lot of commentary on how the Polish church is completely out of sync with the rest of Europe, and how they're embracing a very fundamentalist form of Catholicism that is (surprise) driving people away from it.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Another minute, another scandal. This time concerning the Education Minister, Zalewska.

facebook.com/sieradz/photos/a.377261940894.164464.53182045894/10154534774580895

For those that can't read Polish, the Minister decided to park her official car in a space reserved for disabled people. She was visiting an "integration school" at the time, which is home to children with...disabilities.

Shameful and arrogant. It's the hallmark of PiS.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Easily so. It's not a surprise that Polly is denying the latest poll, but the reality is that Kaczyński has to decide whether this government can survive Macierewicz. If he's already doing endless amounts of damage, what more damage can he do in the next 18 months before local elections?

The real fear here must be that if Macierewicz is dismissed, will he attempt to mount another coup and seize power for himself?

Incidentally, have you seen how his "escape" from internment was revealed to have been a hoax? The reality seems to have been that he simply walked out of the place where he was.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

The question is whether Kaczyński has the guts to deal with Macierewicz or not. The scandal that's surrounding him is growing by the day, and PO have a massive card to play here - the issue of the helicopters isn't going to go away. But if they get rid of him, he will start a civil war within PiS. If they don't get rid of him, it's almost certain that PO will torment them over it, especially as it involved compromising Polish needs for the sake of VIP transport that wasn't needed.


It's doing a huge amount of damage among some parents. They've mobilised part of the electorate that previously wasn't bothered, and that same part of the electorate will vote for the party most likely to punish PiS because they're so upset. Throwing over 900,000 signatures to the trash was also a terrible move, especially as PO are now gleefully pointing out that Szydło promised to give people a voice.

The school programme itself is also absolutely terrible, with plenty of missing things. Even evolution has been de-emphasised, which is insane.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Quite. The "good change" is clearly headed for a very quick end.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

POLAND REJECTS "GOOD CHANGE" IN NEW POLL

The PiS government are quaking in their boots this evening after a stunning new poll revealed that PiS are now in second place. The poll carried out by Kantar revealed that the public are increasingly sick of the corrupt and despicable PiS regime, which has been characterised in recent days by the revelation that a Boeing lobbyist and chief of the Smolensk sub-commission was responsible for cancelling a vital helicopter order for military and civilian use, replacing it with VIP planes for government transport.

The results are as follows:

PO: 31%
PiS: 29%
Kukiz'15: 10%
SLD: 6%
N. 5%

Voters are clearly sick of the scams, lies and TKM'ing of the current government. One can only assume that the Dear Leader and First Secretary of the PiS Political Committee will finally act to remove ministers from their roles. Recently, the Minister for Digitalisation has also criticised the government, showing that the government is rudderless and heading for defeat.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Rather than listen to Polly's rants, it would be better to look at the latest international disgrace on the part of PiS.

There was a vote in the Council of Europe on Turkey, which was to express concern about democracy in Turkey. Instead of voting with Christian Europe on the matter as PO and Nowoczesna did, PiS chose to side with Muslim Turkey.

wyborcza.pl/7,75399,21693686,pis-rozumie-turcje-i-glosuje-przeciw-rezolucji-zgromadzenia.html

Shameful. PiS are now backing anti-democratic Muslim regimes over Christian and democratic governments.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

It's probably the only thing keeping their poll numbers above 30% right now. People will soon forget though, as it becomes the 'new normal' and they start seeing the damage PiS is doing. People might regard the TK or KRS as being vague and not relevant to them, but they won't forget the damage being done in farming communities.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Anyway, let's see how the Chief Propagandist responds to this one.

"GOOD CHANGE" BRINGS BAD OPINIONS

Poland is overwhelmingly turning against the "Good Change" government, as the latest polls reveal. A survey conducted by Kantar Public shows that 50% of Poles are unhappy with the work of the PiS government, while an opinion poll on parties conducted by IBRiS shows that PiS are on 31.7% while PO are on 30%.

Despite large "electoral sausage" handouts, Poles are rejecting the sleaze and corruption that surrounds PiS, including their inability to dismiss hated ministers.

natemat.pl/206701,niezadowolonych-przybywa-nowy-sondaz-polowa-polakow-zle-ocenia-prace-rzadu-beaty-szydlo

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Does anyone else notice the rather blatant attempt to take the topic away from the fact that Macierewicz placed a Boeing lobbyist in a top position, who then cancelled a badly needed Polish military order and replaced it with a completely unneeded order for civilian transport from Boeing?

There were already plenty of reports about how Macierewicz had interesting links with American lobbyists, and this is just yet another example.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Only after the deal with Boeing was done. The damage is still done - Poland is missing vital heavy-lift capability which can transport troops quickly to a flashpoint, and the money was wasted on overpriced Boeing planes instead as a direct result of the influence of a lobbyist working for Boeing.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Another day, another shady tale in PiS involving ex-PZPR members in prominent positions and dodgy deals.

It concerns the recently fired head of the Smoleńsk sub-commission, Wacław Berczyński. A notable PZPR member who enjoyed frequent foreign travels at a time when foreign travel was severely restricted in the PRL, he mysteriously left Poland just before the introduction of martial law and moved to the United States, where he worked for Boeing. It appears that he has had significant dealings with arms dealers throughout the years, too.

It transpires that he was the one behind the cancelling of the vitally important Airbus helicopters that the military badly needs, and was responsible for the deal that the Ministry of Defence made with Boeing to purchase VIP aircraft instead with the money saved from the Airbus order. The order with Boeing was made without a competitive tender or transparent procurement process, and the haste in which the contract was signed meant that it was unable to be scrutinised properly by the relevant authorities.

A few days ago, he abruptly fled from Poland after the scandal emerged, safe from justice in the United States.

As the article below correctly states:


It seems that they were right. They were the ones planning to do it all along, and they were warning us in advance.

romangiertych.natemat.pl/206595,afera-macierewicza

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Suchocka managed, didn't she?

As for Olszewski, he had no choice but to stand down. The plan to capture Wałęsa failed, Macierewicz had made so many enemies that there was no way the security forces were going to cooperate with him, and he simply didn't have the strength needed to pull off such a plan.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

PiS supporters often fail to mention this little fact about Olszewski, but it played a major role in the Sejm and President Wałęsa finally snapping and putting an end to his government. He also failed to enact a new Constitution that was badly needed, and his (lack of) an economy policy meant that he had to force through transportation and energy price rises that caused considerable pain.

Olszewski simply couldn't navigate the maze that was the post-1991 election. He refused to give control of the economy to the liberal parties that wanted it in return for their support of the government, and him, Macierewicz and Jan Parys also enraged Wałęsa. Poland was still a Presidential republic at that time, and losing the support of the President was pretty much the end of him.

Perhaps Polonius can explain why Olszewski's government attempted to use armed forces against the Sejm and the Presidency.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Certainly would have made sense in Olszewski's case, particularly as it would have left him only needing to convince Pawlak to support his government in order to survive the vote of confidence.

Remember that Olszewski fell because he *couldn't* put an economic policy in place. He was and is a socialist, and he was looking for Russian money to prop up Poland at a time when liberal parties were looking West and the President was also very pro West.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Polly, perhaps you'll find this interesting.

multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1993/09/mm0993_01.html

it's an interview carried out with Olszewski in 1993. He quite correctly accepted that the transformation of the old Communist industries required money, which was either going to come from abroad (privatisation) or domestically (which would take time).

I can't say I agree with most of what he says, but there's an interesting quote here -


It's a pity that no government since the time of this interview has had the guts to follow through on this policy.

The fascinating thing here is that Olszewski shows himself to be a socialist through and through with his comments. He wasn't conservative at all, but rather he was thinking about how the economy could realistically operate in early 1990's Poland - which meant accepting that the weakest farms, industries and businesses had to fall, while trying to support the stronger ones in some way. Very 1980's Labour in the UK, if you ask me.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


That was nothing to do with it. It was everything to do with Olszewski trying to make the Premier's job superior to the Presidency. The botched job at "lustration" was simply a dreadful attempt to try and hold onto power as it became clear that his government was about to fall.


It wasn't popular at all. Olszewski was doing nothing, his 'economic' plan consisted of nothing at all, and he was struggling to even win support among his own fellow party members. You're just repeating the tired old PiS fantasy version of events that fails to mention the reality: 273-119. Much of what you're saying was invented by Kaczyński in the coming years, but those who actually know history know that Kaczyński himself was partially responsible for the fall of the government.

May I also remind you that the vote of confidence came after Olszewski signed a cooperation agreement with Moscow? Wałęsa in particular was enraged by this, considering it an irresponsible move.


Doesn't matter what Moczulski was - what matters was that he had more than 40 votes available and Macierewicz made an enemy out of him. Olszewski fell because he couldn't get the support of the Sejm, because he was absolutely useless and was doing nothing as Poland was struggling.


I love the way that you keep repeating the tired line that Tusk was a collaborator. It really does show your poor understanding of Polish history and politics.

Lustration failed because it was a poorly handled attempt to keep control of the Sejm. All it did was enrage people, especally once it was discovered that Macierewicz had issued a list without even checking it properly. Also, as we can clearly see - Macierewicz attempted to create a coup to seize control of the country and depose Wałęsa.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Oh, let's go on. There was an attempt to get the KPN to join the coalition, but he sent...Macierewicz, who immediately pissed off Moczulski. That was 46 potential extra votes for the government lost right there. Had they joined the coalition as well as keeping the confidence of the PSL, the government probably would have survived.

Olszewski managed to annoy the PSL and SLD, he annoyed the smaller centrist parties, he annoyed some right wingers, and he even attempted to blackmail a potential coalition partner. In which reality does such a deeply unpopular government retain power?

Still, tell us Gregy, do you support governments staying in power by force even if they lose a vote of confidence in the Sejm?

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


Claims to be Kukiz supporter, repeats PiS mythology.

Unlawfully removed? It was a minority government that lost a vote of confidence in the Sejm. Are you seriously suggesting that governments should be allowed to remain in power if 231 or more vote against it in the Sejm? It was perfectly legal - the only illegal thing here was Macierewicz attempting to use forces against Wałęsa.

Olszewski's government fell because he got involved in a battle for power with Wałęsa. He lost that battle when the majority in the Sejm decided to support Wałęsa over him. It's that simple. His government had what, 120-something votes out of 460?

Seriously, there's nothing undemocratic about an unpopular and hated minority government falling.

Let's give you a history lesson, eh? Olszewski's party came *sixth* in the 1991 election, and only had 9% of the vote. The government had 114 votes, and they were so weak that they couldn't even find a finance minister. He was fighting with Wałęsa and the leader of his party - Jarosław Kaczyński. He failed to put together an absolute majority to back his government, and therefore - the only result was him going. The failed attempt at lustration by Macierewicz only added to the hatred of Olszewski.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

Just to remind everyone about Macierewicz's history:

oko.press/1992-r-doszlo-zamachu-stanu-wojsko-posluchalo-macierewicza-wojska-ot-tez-by-sie-oparly/

Quick summary - in 1992, Macierewicz already attempted to use military units to preserve the power of Olszewski and prevent him from losing power. It's well worth a read.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


So you'll agree that having a Soviet-trained officer in the cockpit of the flight that crashed in Smoleńsk was a bad idea, then?

Come on Ironside, it's absolutely irrelevant if someone received some training in Moscow 30 years ago.


Actually by the British MI6, but you know, one of the best intelligence agencies in the world must be clearly anti-Polish.


The sad thing is that you're so blinded by partisanship that you're willing to let Macierewicz destroy Poland's security for the sake of him not being from PO. Duda clearly hates him, Szydło never wanted him, the public hate him - what more proof do you need that he should go?

Tell me, why does he need such a large security force around him? Why does he have more protection than Duda or Szydło?

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


There is a shortage when a huge amount of them were purged from the army. Promoting inexperienced, unqualified officers in their place is not the way to organise an army.


There are plenty of serious reports out there about it. Haven't you seen the reports about the British regarding Macierewicz as a potential threat to security?


You don't defend a country by removing large amounts of generals and colonels from active service, especially those that commanded large scale NATO exercises. Of course, if your intention is to create an army that has no experience in NATO, then you do.

I suppose those with communist connections will always, always favour pro-Russia actions over pro-Western actions, won't they?

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That's a very curious way to talk about some generals that were promoted by Lech Kaczyński as President. Is there something you're alluding to, Polonius?

Either way, I wonder why Polly would be so keen to get rid of NATO-trained and integrated generals.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]

The sad thing is that even if he goes today, the damage will have been done and will take easily 6-10 years to recover from, if not more.

Where are the helicopters, Macierewicz? Where are they? We need heavy lift capacity to transport troops quickly to flashpoints, and we don't have them. Why?