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Post by Bonobo on May 2, 2009 19:55:20 GMT 1
Who Will Tell the Poles They Can Vote?
Dominik Uhlig
Gazeta Wyborcza
2009-04-27
The party leaders, the ministers, the EuroParl's office in Poland, or perhaps the State Electoral Commission? One thing is certain: one in two Poles don't know that on 7 June they will elect members of the European Parliament.
Close to one in three respondents believe that the MEPs are elected by politicians from among themselves, according to an early-April TNS OBOP poll for the Institute of Public Affairs that we wrote about last Wednesday.
Lech Gajzler, expert at the National Electoral Office, the State Electoral Commission's (PKW) executive organ, says that the Commission can only do what electoral regulations oblige it to do. And there is no obligation for the PKW to inform the public about how members of the European Parliament are elected.
'The Commission's role is to publish an announcement about the upcoming elections, to publish communiqués about the possibility of submitting candidates and lists, as well as announcements about how to cast a valid vote', says Mr Gajzler.
What about the EuroParl's Information Office?
'The Parliament's own campaign is supposed to only complement the campaigns carried out by the political parties, the activities of the member states' governments and civil society institutions' , says Jacek Safuta, head of the office in Poland.
The EP Information Office has produced TV ads about the elections and distributed information materials - including a computer game about the Parliament - among schools. It also organises seminars for local journalists.
'But we only have six staff. It is the member states that have decided they want a directly elected parliament, so the onus is primarily on them', says Mr Safuta.
A representative of the state - Miko³aj Dowgielewicz, head of the European Integration Committee Office - explains that people know little about EU institutions in the whole EU.
'The way the EU Council or the European Parliament function is rather incomprehensible for them,', says Mr Dowgielewicz.
But still more comprehensible than for the public in Poland. According to the Eurobarometer, only 13 percent of Poles are planning to vote in the June elections, the lowest rate for all member states.
Mr Dowgielewicz: 'A couple of months ago we signed an agreement with the European Commission to organise a campaign shortly before the elections telling Poles specifically how the EP's decisions affect their lives. What the Parliament does in social or economic matters, how if affects the EU's budget or its foreign policy. The campaign will include radio and TV ads, non-partisan ones, of course, encouraging people to vote. We are also publishing a major report summarising Poland's five years in the EU that we would like to see discussed in academic centres throughout the country', says Mr Dowgielewicz. But he adds that the candidates themselves should also have a role in telling people about the EP.
Will they want to? For now, the campaign's main issue has been a controversy between the PO and the PiS over a TV ad that does not mention the EU at all. EU-related issues have hardly been headline news for the press either. That leaves non-governmental organisations as possibly the last resort.
Carried out before the 2007 parliamentary elections, the 'Change the Country, Go to Vote' campaign boosted turnout by close to 10 percentage points (according to research from SMG KRC). A couple of days ago the same organisations that were responsible for it - the Civil Development Forum, the Batory Foundation, the Institute of Public Affairs, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, the Centre for Citizenship Education, the Association of Friends for Integration - inaugurated a campaign called The Navel of Europe, which is the title that will be awarded to the municipality with the highest turnout in the EP elections.
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Most and least successful Polish MEPs
thenews.pl
20.04.2009
Jerzy Buzek and Janusz Lewandowski are the most successful Polish members at the European Parliament, according to the Institute of Public Affairs.
The least successful are the members of the eurosceptic League of Polish Families, according to the thinktank.
Institute of Public Affairs accesses as most successful former prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, and Janusz Lewandowski, both from the Civic Platform party and Boguslaw Liberadzki, Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg, and Grazyna Staniszewska from the Democratic Party. Marcin Libicki and Mieczys³aw Janowski from the Law and Justice party are also noted for their active participation in the European Parliament, though both were recently excluded from 2009 electoral roll the EP elections in June by their party.
The Institute of Public Affairs criticisms the activities of the eurosceptic League of Polish Families, especially Maciej Giertych, who, the thinktank claims, repeatedly tarnished Polish reputation in the EU.
The institute also claims that half of Polish MEPs do not have a basic knowledge of the most essential issues concerning the EU. Consequently, they concentrate on initiatives which are of minor importance. Ryszard Czarnecki, for instance, who took part in 241 parliamentary sessions, in fact gave most of his speeches late in the evening when there was hardly anyone in the session room.
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Post by Bonobo on May 2, 2009 21:00:56 GMT 1
Civic Platform to sue over controversial ad campaign?
thenews.pl
20.04.2009
Civic Platform will probably take the Law and Justice party to court for its controversial ad campaign, in which the opposition party makes accusations of nepotism.
"Civic Platform is consulting lawyers to make sure that suing Law and Justice is the right way to protest against the ad," said Pawel Gras, the government's spokesman.
Civic Platform politicians are indignant at the campaign spot for the European Parliament elections on 7 June, which allegedly defames the party and misrepresents their election slogan. In the advertisement, Law and Justice represent the slogan as: "A better life for our fiends," instead of the original: "A better life for everyone".
Electoral law says that if any campaign materials, such as posters, leaflets, slogans or ads, contain untrue information, a representative of the electoral committee or a candidate for parliament has the right to bring legal action at a district court and ask for correction.
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Court rules PiS must apologize over misleading advert
24th April 2009
A Warsaw court ruled that the ad damages PO's good name and misleads voters
The Warsaw district court has ruled that Law and Justice's (PiS) Election Committee must apologize to Civic Platform (PO) for damaging its good name and misleading voters. The verdict relates to a PiS advertising spot in which the opposition party mocked the ruling coalition, stating that the PO government had arranged orders for a company headed by Senator Tomasz Misiak for zł.48 million.
They also blamed the government for liquidating the shipbuilding industry. Misiak stepped down from PO in mid March over a conflict of interest with a company he partly owned. According to the court, the party headed by Jarosław Kaczyński has no proof of the accusations it made.
The court also stated that it is untrue that the Warsaw mayor paid zł.58 million in bonuses to its employees. PiS has 48 hours to broadcast apologies on TVN, TVN24, TVP1, Polsat News and Polsat. Any further broadcast of the spot was prohibited. PiS representatives said they would appeal against the verdict.
Source: Rzeczpospolita
See the spot:
My commentary: instead of advertising their own assets and values or letting people know their views on how to improve Poland, Kaczyński`s PiS runs a campaign of hatred against the ruling party. I hope they will be punished for their hollow aggression at the elections time.
People, unite and don`t vote those morons!! Please......
I have found some parody from older times but it is still valid today: see a happy family who learn that Lech Kaczyński became the President of Poland. Funny but scary too.
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PiS Ordered to Scrap Anti-PO Ad
The Warsaw Voice
29 April 2009
A Warsaw court April 23 ordered the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party to stop airing a controversial commercial in the run-up to Poland's European Parliament elections June 7 that accused the senior governing coalition party, the Civic Platform (PO), of cronyism.
The court ordered PiS to apologize to PO on Poland's major television channels for undermining its good name and misleading voters. PiS was also forced to place a similar apology on its website.
The court passed its verdict in response to a lawsuit filed by PO April 22. The ruling was issued under a special court procedure that applies to issues regulated by election law.
Under European Parliament election law, if election materials such as posters, leaflets, slogans, remarks or other forms of canvassing during an election campaign contain false information, a party or a person running for MEP has the right to go to court and seek an order requiring that the information should be corrected. The court has 24 hours to examine the case.
The PiS's attorney in court argued that the commercial in question was not an election commercial as defined in the election law. PO, in turn, argued that any form of political advertising during an election campaign is election-related. The court agreed.
PO politicians voiced outrage at the commercial. The commercial alleges that the ruling party takes care only of its own people and their families instead of helping bankrupt industrial plants, for instance. The commercial refers to PO's election slogan "For a better life for all"—but the word "all" is replaced here with a red rectangle with the word "cronies," while the PO logo is altered to show a tongue with the allusion of it being "stuck out at gullible voters."
In its lawsuit, PO complained that the commercial alleged that the government was closing down shipyards and had secured big money for a company owned by PO senator Tomasz Misiak.
Misiak's company had won a contract under a law he had worked on as a senator. When the scandal was exposed, Misiak quit as a PO member and was removed from the Senate economic committee.
El¿bieta Kosiñska-Kozak, who represented PO in court, argued that the government had played no part in awarding the contract to Misiak's company.
"It is clear to the court that it is not the government that is closing down the shipyards. It is not PO's whim, but a move to comply with the European Commission's decision," the court said when substantiating its ruling. The European Commission ruled last year that state aid granted to Polish shipyards was illegal and should be repaid, a decision that effectively made the shipyards bankrupt.
Kosiñska-Kozak also objected to other parts of the controversial commercial, which alleges that Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz- Waltz of the PO has paid out zl.58 million in bonuses to her workers, while a company owned by the wife of Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad has been awarded lucrative tenders by the government.
Kosiñska-Kozak said that only zl.13 million was paid out to the Warsaw City Hall workers by the end of the first quarter and that Grad's wife did not have any stake in the MGGP company which, according to media reports, had won a number of contracts from government agencies and Treasury-owned companies.
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Post by Bonobo on May 9, 2009 21:10:46 GMT 1
Race for European Parliament
The Warsaw Voice
8 April 2009
This year's elections for the European Parliament, Poland's second since the country entered the European Union, will be an important popularity test for Polish political parties ahead of local government and presidential elections next year and parliamentary elections in 2011. All the main parties are trying to attract the most recognizable candidates to run on their tickets for the European Parliament.
Even former President Lech Wa³êsa, a man not easily surprised by political twists and turns, has expressed his astonishment that the ruling coalition party, the Civic Platform (PO), has chosen as one of its candidates Marian Krzaklewski, former leader of Solidarity Election Action (AWS), which governed Poland in 1997-2001. AWS then suffered a crushing defeat in the next election and failed to make it into parliament. Many politicians and commentators blamed Krzaklewski, who had controlled the AWS government of Jerzy Buzek from behind the scenes.
Interestingly, in the 2004 election for the European Parliament, Buzek received the largest number of votes in Poland, although he had been criticized as prime minister. Today, Buzek is a viable candidate for the post of president of the European Parliament. In Silesia province, where he is to run on the PO ticket, he is supported by more than 60 percent of the electorate, according to recent polls. Sociologist Marek Migalski, on the Silesian ticket of the largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), ranks second, with less than 20 percent.
Will Krzaklewski, a sworn enemy of liberalism in the past, be a credible candidate for the PO in Podkarpacie province? Wa³êsa believes Krzaklewski is a strange choice of candidate, to say the least. But opinion surveys show that Krzaklewski is in the lead and may gain 25 percent of the vote in Podkarpacie.
To justify the choice, Donald Tusk, the PO leader and prime minister, said Krzaklewski has extensive experience in labor law and trade union activity, and is a regular visitor at many European institutions.
Until recently, PiS claimed it would be promoting candidates associated with individual regions rather than fielding the most popular deputies and politicians. Zbigniew Ziobro, former justice minister in a PiS government, who enjoys enormous popularity in Cracow, was supposed to be the party's only high-ranking politician to run for the European Parliament. But recent decisions suggest the party has changed its strategy. PiS leader Jaros³aw Kaczyñski said in late March that Jacek Kurski and Pawe³ Kowal will also be allowed to run. Kurski is a PiS deputy very active in the media and parliament while Kowal, a former deputy foreign minister, is rated among PiS's top specialists in international affairs. The decision to field them is a signal for the political world that recognizable candidates are becoming a must in the race for seats in the European Parliament.
Surveys show that the Polish People's Party (PSL), the junior partner in the ruling coalition, has a chance of winning only in Kujawy-Pomerania province. Eugeniusz K³opotek, one of the best known PSL politicians, enjoys the support of around 22 percent of the local electorate. The PO candidate in the province, Tadeusz Zwiefka, who is currently a European Parliament member, has a similar rating.
It is difficult to assess the election chances of the left wing, which is divided into several dueling parties. The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) candidate in Warsaw, Wojciech Olejniczak, the former party leader and a former popular agriculture minister, seems to have a slim chance against candidates fielded by larger parties, especially against Danuta Hübner, the EU commissioner for regional development. Although she was once a minister in a left-wing government, Hübner accepted PO's proposal to run on its ticket. The situation of Olejniczak and the SLD is even more difficult considering that Dariusz Rosati, a former foreign minister, is running in Warsaw as another left-wing candidate, on the ticket of the Alliance for the Future. As a result, the left-wing vote may be split between the two candidates, to the detriment of each.
Another likely winner in Warsaw is Micha³ Kamiñski, a senior official in the Polish President's office and a former member of the European Parliament. His MEP colleague, Adam Bielan, will be in first place on PiS's ticket in Mazovia province.
Ró¿a Thun, head of the European Commission Representation in Poland and a PO candidate in the election, will be competing against Ziobro in Cracow. In Warsaw, Hübner will be supported on the PO ticket by Pawe³ Zalewski, former deputy leader of PiS who was removed from the party by its leader Jaros³aw Kaczyñski.
The controversial Libertas movement of Declan Ganley, a euroskeptical Irish millionaire, is not likely to score a success in Poland. But Ganley has already managed to evade an important Polish electoral provision that bans foreign funding for parties and other organizations running in elections. He has guaranteed a loan for Libertas Polska, the Polish arm of Libertas. The move provides an opportunity for Polish euroskeptics, including former PiS deputy Adam Zawisza, to conduct an election campaign.
A big question mark is what the turnout will be. In 2004, less than 21 percent of Polish voters participated in the election for the European Parliament. Some researchers suggest the turnout will be even lower this year. But that would not be bad news for well-known candidates. Political scientists have observed that in elections with low turnouts, those who do vote tend to choose the popular figures in the top places on the largest election lists.
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Post by Bonobo on May 19, 2009 19:38:56 GMT 1
Parties use Europe to push national issues
thenews.pl
11.05.2009
Big conventions, meetings and new video ads – the major political parties in Poland launched their electoral campaign at the weekend.
Though the elections are for the European parliament on June 7, the campaigns mainly focused on national issues.
The two most popular parties in Poland, the governing `liberal/conservati ve' Civic Platform and the opposition `national/conservat ive' Law and Justice are using the slogans "Vote Poland" and "More for Poland" respectively. The third most popular group, according to opinion polls, the leftist Social Democracy, is using the official Party of European Socialists' slogan: "People first."
The national character of the campaigns could be seen last Saturday at conventions of Civic Platform and Law and Justice its main political opponent. Civic Platform's leader, PM Donald Tusk said that Poland needs a strong representation in The European People's Party.
"If we can gain a lot of MEPs, our Christian Democratic friends from Italy, Germany and France will have to take us seriously," Tusk said at the first of his regional convention in Poznan, in western Poland.
About 250 kilometers to the north-west, in the port city of Szczecin, another of Platform's convention took place on Saturday. The two hundred people meeting was disrupted by a few trade unionists from the local shipyard, protesting at possible redundancies.
Civic Platform MP, Slawomir Nitras strongly criticised the trade unions, which "abuse the tradition of Solidarity."
Meanwhile, Law and Justice had its convention in the south-western city of Wroclaw. The party's leader, former PM, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, told delegates about the necessity of a strong Polish representation in the EP.
"We need a Europe of equals, if we want it to develop and to be an active subject in world politics," Kaczynski claimed.
He declared that Law and Justice will join a new, pro-Lisbon Treaty referendum group inside the EP, together with conservative parties from Great Britain and Czech Republic. The group will known as the Civic Democrats (ODS).
As Kaczynski said, it will be an influential faction, which will ensure Poland "certain power, based on partnership. " But there will be no voting discipline on national issues, Kaczynski added, in keeping with the more Eurosceptic nature of the group.
Kaczynski said that the "More for Poland", slogan does not stand against Europe but for it.
"It is for Europe, if we want one Europe, it has to be a loyal Europe," Kaczynski argued.
Socialist group member, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) launched its new electoral video ad. It criticises former Solidarity leader Marian Krzaklewski, who is now top of the list of Civic Platform's candidates. The video, available on the internet only, do not even mention either the logo or the name of SLD.
Generally, however, the parties have not been debating different visions of Europe but using the election as a referendum on the present government, say observers.
In the last European election in Poland in 2004, turnout was just 21 percent. Many psephologists think that this year, the turnout could be even lower.
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Post by Bonobo on May 24, 2009 16:27:07 GMT 1
Forecast shows lowest EP election turnout in Poland
The Warsaw Business Journal
19th May 2009
With just 13 percent of voters in Poland expected to turn out during the upcoming European Parliament elections in June, the CEE region's largest country sits ignominiously in last place of a ranking of EU-27 countries.
Approximately 65 percent of Polish voters say they have no interest in the EU elections, EUBusiness quoted a recent Eurobarometer survey as saying.
On the other hand, the Czech Republic is expected to see the highest turnout in the region – 46 percent.
Miko³aj Dowgielewicz, Poland's European affairs minister, has a plan to draw voters to the polls, however. "We have to show Polish people that the European election affects very real areas of their lives, such as the price of air flights, telecommunications and the internet," he told the AFP.
"People are no longer obliged to vote, so they don't," Ireneusz Krzeminski, a political scientist at Warsaw University, was quoted as saying. According to the expert, the country is still suffering the after effects of communism, which ruled Poland until 1989.
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Post by Bonobo on May 29, 2009 19:10:18 GMT 1
Civic Platform well ahead in EP opinion poll
Polish Radio
27.05.2009
According to the latest opinion poll, the ruling Civic Platform will gain almost half of all votes cast in the European parliamentary elections on June 7, while Libertas has failed to interest voters.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform is way ahead of the opposition Law and Justice party, according to the poll by PBS DGA.
If the European Parliament elections took place today, Civic Platform would win with 47 percent support, the opposition Law and Justice party would come in second with 25 percent of votes. The Democratic Left Alliance would gain 10 percent support and the Polish Peasant's Party – the junior coalition party in the current government - would secure nine percent.
The smaller parties are failing to capture voters' imagination. With the Self Defence party on three percent, Polish Labour Party on two percent, the Real Politics Union one percent, Polish Right party and the Centre-Left party on less than one percent, all would fall under electoral threshold and fail to gain any seats in the European Parliament under Poland's proportional representation system.
And despite acres of news print and hours of airtime over the past few weeks on Polish media, the anti-Lisbon Treaty Libertas party has made little headway with voters, with just two percent of respondents saying they will vote for them on polling day.
"The survey proves that a low turnout will help the bigger parties like Civic Platform and the Democratic Left Alliance," Marcin Splawski from PBS DGA pollsters told Gazeta Wyborcza.
The survey was conducted on 22 to 24 May among a sample of 1063.
Turnout in the last European parliamentary elections in Poland, in 2004 – just weeks after the nation joined the EU – was just 20 percent.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 7, 2009 21:37:31 GMT 1
www.tvn24.pl/0,10455,0,1,raport.html 4 parties PO - Peaceful Order - 45%. PiS - Pucked insane Savages - 30%. oh shit!!! I hoped it would be much less. SLD- Suave Leftist Dorks - 12% PSL - Peasant Soil Liberation - 8% The attendance was 27%. Various exotic, radical or moronic political groups got about 1% each. Polish MPs 
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Post by tufta on Jun 8, 2009 20:21:14 GMT 1
www.tvn24.pl/0,10455,0,1,raport.html 4 parties PO - Peaceful Order - 45%. PiS - Pucked insane Savages - 30%. oh shit!!! I hoped it would be much less. SLD- Suave Leftist Dorks - 12% PSL - Peasant Soil Liberation - 8% The attendance was 25%. Various exotic, radical or moronic political groups got about 1% each. Yes, a good sign! The European left is generally in retreat. The centre-right is my choice and they are winning ground Europe-wide. Now, with a very special regards to my best friend from Kraków, a comparison with a friendly hug (niedzwiedz)  ;D ;D How would look the Polish representation in the only democratic institution in EU - the European Parliament , were just the Varsovians to decide? Results in Warsaw - turnover - 40% PO (centre right) - 55% PiS (centre right)- 23% SLD-UP (left, postocommunist)- 9% ---- remaining parties didn'y reach the threshold Cracovians' choice in Krakow - turnover - 27% PiS - 41% (centre right) PO - 35% (centre right) SLD-UP – 9% (left, postocommunist) PSL – 7% (peasant's, unstable, no-programme party) ------------------------ remaining parties didn'y reach the threshold |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 8, 2009 20:36:22 GMT 1
Yes, a good sign! The European left is generally in retreat. I didn`t care so much for the reds as for those maniacs from PiS. ;D ;D ;D ;D They are much more harmful. Let them show what they are able to. Bear`s hug can be deadly. Didn`t you read la Fontaine`s fables??? I know those numbers. Yes, Cracow has always been a little more conservative than the rest. But PSL`s 7% suggests that the results aren`t from the city only, but from southern Poland generally.
How governments fared in European Parliament vote
Reuters
Sunday, June 07, 2009
"...POLAND
Poland's ruling centre-right Civic Platform maintained its lead, winning 45.2%of the projected vote count or 24 seats out of the possible 50 in the European Parliament, remaining more popular than its rivals despite a sharply slowing economy. The main opposition, Eurosceptic Law and Justice party won 29.5% or 16 seats while the leftist SLD took 12% or six seats.
Few Poles blame the government for the slowdown and many economists still expect Poland, almost uniquely in ex-communist Europe, to avoid recession... "
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PO wins EP elections, PiS comes distant second
The Warsaw Business Journal
8th June 2009
The ruling Civic Platform (PO) party won a decisive victory in the European Parliament elections, taking 44.39 percent of votes and securing 25 seats in the EU's legislative body, according to preliminary results data announced by the National Election Commission.
According to this preliminary data, turnout in the amounted to 24.53 percent. That was an improvement over turnout in 2004, which stood at 20.9 percent, but still the third-lowest figure in the EU after Slovakia and Lithuania.
The major opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), obtained 27.41 percent of votes, which will give the party 15 seats. The only two other Polish groups to enter the European Parliament will be the left-wing SLD-UP coalition and the Polish People's Party, which secured 12.33 and 7.03 percent of votes, respectively, meaning seven and three EP seats.
Most of the major parties' leading candidates and favorites of pre-election polls made it to the European Parliament. Those include EC Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner (PO) and former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro (PiS), who carried Warsaw and Kraków respectively, as well as current MEPs Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and Jerzy Buzek (both PO candidates), MP Jacek Kurski and former MEP and presidential spokesperson Micha³ Kamiñski (both of PiS) and SLD's MEP Marek Siwiec and Wojciech Olejniczak, head of the party's parliamentary club.
One of the greatest surprises was Marian Krzaklewski, who ran on PO's candidate list but lost.
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Poles stand by government in financial crisis
By Dominika Maslikowski
DPA
Jun 8, 2009
Warsaw - Voters across Eastern Europe took a jab at their ruling parties during the European Parliament elections in what many saw as a call for change during a bad financial crisis.
But Poland's ruling Civic Platform party saw its support nearly double from the last parliament elections of 2004 in a vote of confidence coming amid a tough political climate.
Results with 98.9 per cent of the votes counted showed the centre- right party getting 44.39 per cent, while the conservative, eurosceptic Law and Justice in second with 27.41 per cent.
It was a big jump for Civic Platform since 2004, when the party got 24.1 per cent of votes and 15 parliament seats.
And it was a rare trend in an Eastern Europe that saw opposition triumph in Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia and Bulgaria according to results so far.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted life hadn't been easy lately, and said support for Civic Platform came from 'understanding and trust' for the party.
Tusk had spoken at the Warsaw Stock Exchange a week before election day, beaming at a figure that showed 8 per cent economic growth in the first quarter of 2009. A large map behind him showed Poland marked green in a sea of European nations in the red.
The opposition said it didn't help to say that others were worse off, and called Tusk dreamy and unrealistic.
But judging by the EU poll numbers, most voters believed Tusk and his claim that Poland was handling the crisis better than most.
Poland, the largest economy to join the European Union in 2004, has been less effected by the financial crisis than its European neighbors.
Yet the economy still proved a hot topic before elections.
President Lech Kaczynski made a rare speech to parliament before voting day, asking the government about its plans to combat the criss and warning that it could get worse.
It was domestic politics that had little to do with the EU, but the crisis was nonetheless used for 'propaganda before the elections and a way to show off to voters,' said Agnieszka Lada, of the Institute of Public Affairs.
The results on Monday showed most Poles had opted for Tusk's optimism over the warnings of the opposition.
Civic Platform took the votes as a sign of trust in troubled times. It was a 'great thing,' Tusk said, to improve parliament election results in uneasy times of global crisis.
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European elections 2009: Poland's governing party enjoys easy victory
Poland's governing centre-Right party enjoyed an easy victory in European elections to deliver a crushing blow to its main opponents.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw
telegraph.co. uk
08 Jun 2009
Civic Platform, the centre-Right party led by Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, won 25 of the 50 seats on offer while Law and Justice, the country's main opposition party came in second with 15 seats.
The result could undermine plans by the UK's Conservative Party to form a new conservative bloc in the European parliament. It had planned to join forces with Law and Justice, but the Polish party's poor showing may reduce the bloc's power and influence.
For Mr Tusk the result came as a vindication of his government's policies, despite widespread criticism over its handling of the economic crisis, and comes 18 months after Civic Platform's scooped 41 per cent of the vote in general elections.
"It's a great thing to get a better result than we scored in the parliamentary elections one-and-a-half years ago, while being in power during such a difficult period of crisis," said Mr Tusk.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Law and Justice and identical twin to Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski, vowed to fight on to protect and promote Polish rights in Europe.
"Poland still does not have the same rights in the EU and Poles are not equal as EU citizens, and we have to resolve that," said the euro-sceptic party head.
The only negative aspect for all parties came from disappointing turnout figures of just 24.53 per cent.
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PM takes ‘moderate satisfaction’ from low turnout
thenews.pl
08.06.2009
Politicians try to make the best out of a low turnout in Poland – one of smallest in the EU - which strengthened the position of larger parties.
Civic Platform – which won 25 of the 50 seats up for grabs on Sunday – managed to get their key politicians into the European Parliament. Danuta Hubner, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy and Civic Platform’s number one on the list in Warsaw, gained support of more than 300,000 voters.
And though the turnout was four percent higher than in 2004, only one in four took part in the vote – which one of the lowest in the 27 nation bloc. Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right), the leader of Civic Platform, claimed yesterday evening that any turnout higher than 25% will be reason for “moderate satisfaction” .
Just under 25 percent of voters eventually turned out in Poland.
On average just over 43 percent voted in the elections throughout the EU, with Malta having the highest participation at 79 percent.
But just 19 percent of Slovaks and 20 percent of Lithuanians joined Poland at the bottom of the turnout league.
The main opposition party, the conservative Law and Justice came in second with 27 percent of the popular vote, claiming that, “These were not easy elections,” despite being in opposition and Poland suffering the worst economic conditions since the early 1990s.
The party’s leader, former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski thanked voters and congratulated the winners. He hoped that Law and Justice’s slogan, ‘More for Poland’, will be adopted by Civic Platform, which takes its place among the largest group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party. Kaczynski said after exit poll results were published after polling stations closed at 10 pm last night, that ‘More for Poland’ means that the country should be treated on equal terms in the EU.
“Poland still does not have the same rights in the EU and Poles are not equal as EU citizens, and we have to resolve that,” Kaczynski said.
Beyond two right wing parties, the coalition of two left wing parties, Democratic Left Alliance and the Labour Union (SLD-UP) gained around 12 percent, nationwide. SLD leader, Grzegorz Napieralski, said that the result was a honour and a challenge for both parties. He added that SLD-UP support showed that a “new, open left” can be a political alternative in Poland.
Junior coalition partner, the Polish Peasant’s Party leader, Deputy PM Waldemar Pawlak, seemed to be quite happy with the seven percent they received from the electorate.
“It is a signal for all the people how diversity and pluralism is important in our country. Poles have shown clearly that we need coalition and variety,” Pawlak said.
The low turnout his the smaller parties, badly. Among them was the Polish branch of the pan-European Libertas. The party, which was trying to attract a euroscpetic constituency with anti-bureaucracy and anti-Lisbon Treaty slogans gained just over one percent of votes.
“We respect that every man is the architect of his own fortune,“ said Libertas candidate Artur Zawisza. |
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Post by tufta on Jun 9, 2009 11:05:53 GMT 1
I didn`t care so much for the reds as for those maniacs from PiS. ;D ;D ;D ;D They are much more harmful. I would say that - at present - neither the reds nor centre-right quasi-socialist like PiS, are harmful. They just provide the whole spectrum. In the past the reds and their collaboarators were anti-Polish, yes. Now we badly need some strong and sensible left, since in several years PiS will be eaten by more modern and better adjusted to reality PO. Who would stand for leftist ideals then? Mr. Olejniczak?  ;D |
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Post by tufta on Jun 9, 2009 11:20:43 GMT 1
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 9, 2009 18:55:46 GMT 1
Nice but I saw a mistake in numbers. They present outdated info, with PiS`s 16 seats instead of today`s 15. One more curiosity. Traditionally, American Poles voted PiS.
Law and Justice beat Platform in US
thenews.pl
09.06.2009
Despite taking a hammering at home, Law and Justice picked up the most votes from Poles registered to vote in the US and Canada in Sunday's European elections.
Official figures from the Electoral Commission in Poland show that 44.43 percent voted for Civic Platform in Poland – Law and Justice received 27.40 percent, the left wing SLD-UP alliance 12.34 percent and the Polish Peasant's Party (PSL) received 7.01 percent.
The percentage of the popular vote translates into 25 members of the European Parliament for Civic Platform, 15 for Law and Justice, 7 for SLD and 3 for PSL. Turnout was officially 24.53 percent, up from 20.9 percent in 2004.
But though the centre-right Civic Platform saw the percentage of their support over the opposition increase in Poland – remarkable in itself at a time of rising unemployment and economic gloom – Law and Justice did well in North America. In the US, Poles registered to vote in the US voted overwhelmingly for Jaroslaw Kaczynski's party, by 73 percent to Platform's 16.
And in Canada Poles voted 66 to 21 percent for Law and Justice.
But good news for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's party in..Brazil! Fifty one percent of Poles voted for Civic Platform, 18 percent for Law and Justice, 15 percent for the fringe Polish Right party and 5.6 percent for the CentreLeft, green alliance.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 9, 2009 19:49:36 GMT 1
since in several years PiS will be eaten by more modern and better adjusted to reality PO. Really? You are pouring honey on my heart, tufta. Thank you so much!! Great thanks for giving me hope!!! 2007 elections  2009 elections  |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 9, 2009 22:46:59 GMT 1
Why did PiS do so poorly? Most probably due to its leader. The most recent foolishness of Kaczyński: during a news conference he accused a major radio station of contributing to his party`s poor result in elections and told the reporter he should be ashamed working there. When the radio`s reporter said he wasn`t, Kaczyński added: There were always two groups in Poland: those from AK (patriotic underground army) and those from other circles. The man should really control his temper because his behaviour is a direct cause of his party`s recent failure. www.tvn24.pl/-1,1604446,0,1,olejnik-mamy-dla-prezesa-pis-piosenke,wiadomosc.html |
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 9, 2009 22:51:07 GMT 1
Why did PiS do so poorly? Most probably due to its leader. The most recent foolishness of Kaczyński: during a news conference he accused a major radio station of contributing to his party`s poor result in elections and told the reporter he should be ashamed working there. When the radio`s reporter said he wasn`t, Kaczyński added: There were always two groups in Poland: those from AK (patriotic underground army) and those from other circles. The man should really control his temper because his behaviour is a direct cause of his party`s recent failure. www.tvn24.pl/-1,1604446,0,1,olejnik-mamy-dla-prezesa-pis-piosenke,wiadomosc.html   qwack, qwack. |
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Post by tufta on Jun 10, 2009 14:06:42 GMT 1
since in several years PiS will be eaten by more modern and better adjusted to reality PO. Really? You are pouring honey on my heart, tufta. Thank you so much!! Great thanks for giving me hope!!! ;D ;D ;D your 'love' Orwell's way towards PiS isn't too hidden I must say  Bo, I can't 'guarantee' they would totally disappear But that wouldn't be good either. They are great at historical matters and we need someone like that, too. In EP as well. Besides that they are almost exactly the same as PO, but PO does it much better, although still not enough good. At the same time their 'pro-social' part although much stronger than PO's is too weak, so they cannot replace a truly centre-left party. Which is lacking in Poland... |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 10, 2009 20:47:47 GMT 1
Now it`s time for Lithuanians to grant more rights to the Polish minority there. Poles succeed in Lithuania
thenews.pl
08.06.2009
In yesterday's European Parliament elections in Lithuania, Poles managed to get enough votes to secure a representative for European Parliament.
The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL) gathered 8,46 percent of votes and won victory in four districts: Vilnius (71 percent of votes), Salcininkai (80,6 percent), Trakai (31,38 percent), Svencionys (22,42 percent).
Waldemar Tomaszewski, the head of the EAPL, will be the first Pole in Lithuanian history to become a member of European Parliament.
"It is a superb result!" commented Tomaszewski, who admitted that the party owes a part of its success to a low voter turnout.
"While in the EP I'm going to focus on three main issues: energy, human rights, including the rights of minorities, and ideology, i.e. spreading Christian values," added the politician, describing his political program.
Bo, I can't 'guarantee' they would totally disappear But that wouldn't be good either. They are great at historical matters and we need someone like that, too. In EP as well. Besides that they are almost exactly the same as PO, but PO does it much better, although still not enough good. At the same time their 'pro-social' part although much stronger than PO's is too weak, so they cannot replace a truly centre-left party. Which is lacking in Poland... You are probably right they are needed. Nature abhors a vacuum. ;D ;D ;D But having problems with tolerating the guys from PiS is my democratic right. Signs of PiS crumbling.
Spin doctors to blame for election defeat
thenews.pl
09.06.2009
Law and Justice (PiS) candidates for the European Parliament blame the party's poor performance in the ballot, Sunday, on spin doctors in charge of their election campaign.
Law and Justice came a poor second to the Civic Platform party in the European parliamentary elections on June 7, securing just 27 percent, 17 points behind the winners.
Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro – who led Law and Justice to a strong victory in Krakow, says: "Maybe those responsible for communication [during the Law and Justice campaign] should reflect on their activity and resign,."
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of Law and Justice, admitted there was conflict within the party but advised to wipe the slate clean, forget about disagreements and carry on.
"It was one of the worst and most self-centred election campaigns I have ever taken part in," said Jolanta Szczypinska, who ran for the European Parliament and was third on the electoral roll in the northern region of Pomerania. When the party's own private pre-election polls showed that Szczypinska might beat Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, of the same party, who ran with the first position on the list, Szczypinska – a relatively high media profile politician - was asked by Law and Justice headquarters not to organize any more press conferences.
Other Law and Justice MPs confirmed that the party's spin doctors were manipulating the electoral campaign in favour of some candidates and against others. When the directors of the campaign noticed someone could pose a threat to those at the top of the electoral list on the party's ballot paper, they refused to grant them more money for the campaign, forbid them to take part in political debates, organize press conferences or broadcast campaign films.
"Those who endangered candidates anointed by Law and Justice headquarters were stabbed in the back," agrees Tomasz Gorski, the Law and Justice candidate from the western city of Poznan. |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 16, 2009 19:10:14 GMT 1
Cracovians' choice in Krakow - turnover - 27% PiS - 41% (centre right) PO - 35% (centre right) SLD-UP – 9% (left, postocommunist) PSL – 7% (peasant's, unstable, no-programme party) ------------------------ remaining parties didn'y reach the threshold It needs revision. Krakow - 50% for PO, 32% for PiS. For a while I was really worried ;D ;D ;D but Krakow is fine, villages from Podhale and Świętokrzyskie voted for PiS....
MEP 'lined up' to become Poland's next EU commissioner
theparliament. com
6/15/09
Polish centre-right MEPs Janusz Lewandowski has emerged as the frontrunner to become his country's next EU commissioner.
According to a number of well-placed sources, Lewandowski, seen to have been an effective chairman of parliament's budget committee, has been earmarked for the post by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.
If so, that is expected to disappoint Poland's current commissioner, Danuta Hübner. Although she won a seat in the European elections, the university professor is thought to favour a second commission term, preferably with an economic portfolio.
Civic Platform, the centre-right party led by Tusk, won 25 of the 50 seats on offer while Law and Justice, the country's main opposition party came in second with 15 seats.
One Brussels-based Polish journalist said, "Sources say Tusk has already made his mind up and plumped for Lewandowski. It would be a logical choice because the two are close, both are from the same party, the same city (Gdansk) and similar background."
Hübner, who is responsible for the regional policy dossier, must make up her mind whether she wants to take up her seat or go for a second term before parliament's first formal session, in Strasbourg on 14 July.
In the elections, she polled over 300,000 votes, making it one of best results in Poland.
There is a third likely candidate for the commission post: Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who was foreign affairs committee chairman in the last parliament and is a former Europe minister.
Like Lewandowski, himself a former government minister, he was re-elected an MEP last week. |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 25, 2009 18:41:50 GMT 1
Leaders endangered by poor election results?
thenews.pl
15.06.2009
Opposition political parties lick their wounds following disappointing results in the European elections and some voice criticism of current leaders.
The Polish left needs a new, charismatic, leader, says Ryszard Kalisz from the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Earlier, the newly elected conservative Law and Justice's (PiS) MEP Zbigniew Ziobro suggested that those responsible for communications and PR in his party should think about their performance, or maybe even leave.
Criticism has been hurled at Law and Justice's election campaign, which resulted in the party trailing Civic Platform badly in the polls and making little headway from the general election campaign two years before.
Criticism has intensified of the Law and Justice leadership as well. Zbigniew Ziobro, former justice minister, has become a favourite within the party, as he collected more than 330,000 votes in his constituency, one sixth of all the party's votes in the European elections. A day after, he said that "maybe people responsible for the communication in PiS, should think about their job, or maybe they should leave." His words have begun a wave of criticism both from current and former PiS members.
Leader of Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski (right) said that Ziobro should focus learning English now that he is a member of the European Parliament, instead of criticizing the party's electoral campaign. Last Wednesday, however, Ziobro and Kaczynski held a press conference together, trying to prove that everything is all right and the two politicians remain united.
Nevertheless doubts about the condition of the PiS leader ship arose once again, when the tabloid Fakt revealed details of a meeting between Zbigniew Ziobro and former deputy leader of the party, Ludwik Dorn, now a prominent critic of Kaczynski.
Other Law and Justice members assure media that they remain loyal to Kaczynski, as they can not imagine anyone else as party leader. However, Dorn and other former PiS politicians claim that Law and Justice lost a third election in a row with the current leadership, and it will not put up with a fourth failure.
Two left feet?
It was thought that tensions within the leftwing SLD had eased, somewhat, after former leader Wojciech Olejniczak won a seat in the European Parliament in the elections of June 7. But the man who took over as SLD leader, Grzegorz Napieralski - after a dismal performance in the general elections of 2007 - should not feel safe. Today, influential left wing MP Ryszard Kalisz publicly declared that he did not like the way party is ruled.
"I think that [Grzegorz [Napieralski] suffers from a lack of leadership and public relations skills. The left really needs a charismatic leader today," Kalisz told Radio Zet today.
Kalisz added that, however, he is not interested in playing a more important role in the party, as he "has a lot of jobs right now," but he promised to watch the development in SLD closely.
A completely different atmosphere prevails in the Civic Platform. In the euro election Prime Minister Donald Tusk's party confirmed its supremacy on the political scene and now can prepare for the next battles – next year's presidential and regional elections.
Deputy PM Grzegorz Schetyna declared that "it may be hard to imagine, but it is possible," that Civic Platform's probable presidential candidate – the current prime minister, Donald Tusk – could became a president and stay the Civic Platform leader at the same time.
Opposition called his words unconstitutional, claiming it is against the article saying: "The President of the Republic shall hold no other offices nor discharge any public functions with the exception of those connected with the duties of his office."
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Brown 'insulted Poland's president'
By Emily Ashton
Press Association
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The Prime Minister was today advised to refrain from insulting European political parties.
Tory Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) said Gordon Brown's comments on Poland's Law and Justice Party were a "great insult" to the Polish president.
But Mr Brown said the Tories should look again at the policies of the parties with which they were forming an alliance in the European Parliament.
During Prime Minister's questions, Mr Kawczynski, who is of Polish descent, said: "The Prime Minister's insult to the Law and Justice Party of Poland yesterday in his European statement is a great insult to the President of Poland (Lech Kaczynski) who is a member of that party and to the Polish people who elected that party into office.
"No matter what he may think of the Law and Justice Party, he must understand that as Prime Minister of the UK he has a duty to implement basic diplomatic procedures."
Mr Brown yesterday described the party as "extreme right-wing" during a Commons statement on the European Council.
He told Mr Kawczynski: "I have very good relationships with the president you're talking about.
"As far as the Polish Law and Justice Party, I think the Conservatives should look at the policies of the parties they are having dealings with."
Labour's Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) asked the Prime Minister whether it should be the role of mainstream UK political parties to associate with such parties.
Mr Brown replied: "Isn't it remarkable that the Conservatives have formed an alliance in Europe that excludes the German Christian Democrats, excludes the French party of President Sarkozy, excludes the Italian party of Prime Minister Berlusconi ... "
He was interrupted by loud jeers from the Tory benches but continued: "They are now isolated on the fringes of Europe."
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 3, 2009 21:51:02 GMT 1
Poland seeks to increase influence in EU
thenews.pl
26.06.2009
Poland is quietly fighting for a wider range of EU posts for its officials at all levels.
Poland's candidate for a place on the European Commission - Janusz Lewandowski - will be the main face of all Polish officials in EU institutions, but Warsaw is trying to put as many Poles as possible to lower-level positions.
An Office of the Committee for European Integration, a governmental institution responsible for the EU affairs, has recently sent several letters with a list of priority posts which Polish officials should fight for, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. These are mostly vacancies at the Directorates- General for economic issues, environment, agriculture and external relations.
Warsaw is also interested in posts in legal services. Until now, Poles have not been very successful in getting important EU jobs. According to Gazeta Wyborcza, this is not only because of a lack of qualified Polish experts, but also the quite high requirements set by EU law. For example, candidates must have 10 to 15 years experience in the civil service, including three to five years at an executive post.
In the European Commission, which employs 26,000 people, Poland has filled its national quota by 84 per cent. Poles work there mostly at expert and assistant level. But at chief and director of department level, the Polish quota falls to 36 and 56 per cent respectively.
Warsaw hopes to improve this statistic during negotiations concerning the appointment of the new European Commission this autumn.
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paulo
Just born
Posts: 44
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Post by paulo on Jul 3, 2009 22:16:52 GMT 1
Dear Bo, Tuftabis, and others:
Tell me if I am correct in my surmisings (evaluations and judgments):
PiS is an organization leaning far to the right. Its leaders are prone to ultranationalism (blaming other groups for all of Poland's problems).
The victor, PO?, or something like that, is more moderate. More conventional and institututional.
For myself, it is sad that for a party to be nationalistic, they have to scapegoat other groups and make themselves Superior to other nationalities.
It is possible to love your own people with a love that is not blind to their faults.
It is possible to love your own nationality, without thinking they are Superior to others'.
It is possible, but far too rare. I think the leaders of such groups are just using nationalism as a cloak (disguise) to achieve power.
Like the great Kosiusco, (forgive me for the misspelling), such leaders should keep their people in check. They should "judge a man [or nationality] by the content of their character, and not by their" ethnic group.
It is often quite obvious that the things that made a country great are sold, as it were, 'cheaply at auction.' This opens the door for such negative leaders. That is, if there were not such problems, no need for such leaders, speaking Unpopular -- but true things, would arise. The tough part is finding true leaders, who seek after righteousness, regardless of whose nationality is at stake.
That is why I find it interesting that the political leader of Poles in Lithuania said he felt the spread of Christian values, with its historical stability in respecting ALL people's rights, would be his way of spreading ideology. It will be helpful if he is an authentic person, Because all legitimate power should flow from ideas.
That is why I like what you guys are doing here. You are trying to create a forum for, among other things, the Best Ideas To Prevail. That is why I think true freedom originates from the majority of the individuals in a nation thinking wisely and rightly, as opposed to the state manipulating individuals.
This is something truly to be proud of: When many of your countrymen think thusly. It really makes your nation better! One person CAN make a difference.
That is the kind of nationalism I would love to see worldwide. It would be healthy, too, without leading to the wars that the false nationalism did.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 4, 2009 10:14:50 GMT 1
Dear Bo, Tuftabis, and others: Tell me if I am correct in my surmisings (evaluations and judgments): PiS is an organization leaning far to the right. Its leaders are prone to ultranationalism (blaming other groups for all of Poland's problems). Right, but not too far. There are further parties than PiS. Nationalist, but not ultra. There are ultrer. PiS resemble boys who are constantly urged by an unconquerable desire to prove sth, stressing their importance of their existence - that is why, like boys, they never stop trouble making and ferment. Thye are prone to fight against anybody who dares to have a different opinion. Yes, definitely more moderate. That is human vice since God gave us souls. People live in groups as they are social creatures. It is very easy to unite a group when you point to a real or apparent danger posed by another group. Many politicians use it today. Yes, we, Poles from Krakow to Warsaw and abroad must work together to protect the values and rebuild this messy world. |
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Post by tufta on Jul 6, 2009 12:38:29 GMT 1
Dear Bo, Tuftabis, and others: Tell me if I am correct in my surmisings (evaluations and judgments): PiS is an organization leaning far to the right. Its leaders are prone to ultranationalism (blaming other groups for all of Poland's problems). The victor, PO?, or something like that, is more moderate. More conventional and institututional. Paul, PiS is by no means a nationalist party. On the opposite! It is a strongly pro-European party, which sees EU as a union of independent states. PiS and PO are generally very similar, and it is sad they are unable to cooperate due to personal problems and misunderstandings and ambitions of their repective leaders. Here's what I wrote in Jaga's forum about the most important Polish parties just prior to the elections. Thank you. With the use of www.euprofiler.eu/ I have quickly compared these parties between themselves and to Polish equivalents. In Poland you would, theoretically, vote for SLD-UP or PDP. Unfortunately they are both postcommunist. It is Polish specificity that there is no leftist party that would not be postcommunist, a real shame. (UP of Ryszard Bugaj was a trial to establish one in the early 1990ties, but is now is one block with SLD, and Ryszard Bugaj himself is an advisor for the centre-right President of Poland). I will vote for PO (we have European Parliament elections only) just as in general elections. This is a centre-right party. It's main opponent is PIS, which is pro-European too, but much closer to centre than PO. Both are for EU as a union of independent states, but they differ substantially in political methods used (and I much more prefer PO's methods, even though I am not at all delighted with how PO is doing...). The other difference between these two major parties is that PO, being more to the right than PiS, reaches out for undecided voters from the left side and those openly 'cosmopolitan' . While PiS reaches for those undecided or non-represented from the right and for those more national. Even more to the centre than PIS is PSL, which is at the same time more pro-European than PO. BUt this is a peasants party which is not stable and only adjusts to the trends that give it the most chances. On the other side of the proEU<--->EUsceptic scale we have Samoobrona, which is centre-left and UPR, Prawica RP, Libertas which are all more ore less centre-right. Please note the web-page www.euprofiler.eu/is still operating and you can choose any country there, provide the answers and then you will be given access to an excellent tool fro comparisons of different European countries between each other and with your own views. Coming back to PiS party - here's the link to teh description in Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_and_Justice |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 6, 2009 21:57:32 GMT 1
Paul, PiS is by no means a nationalist party. On the opposite! I can`t agree. Of course they are. The most recent case of PiS mayor of Jasło who vowed to cut down the tree of Hitler growing in the city center. polandsite.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=poll&action=display&thread=766&page=1It isn`t patriotism, it isn`t conservatism. It is pure nationalism. Read a 2006 excerpt from a socialist site:
The brother Kaczynski are leaders of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), the right wing nationalist force who won the last general election inflicting a huge defeat on the outgoing government of the Democratic Left Alliance (Poland’s former communist party). Law and Justice’s politics are a mix of nationalism and anti-communism. It won the elections thanks to its campaigns against outright privatisation, against the growing influence of foreign capital in the Polish economy and against the robbery of state assets by the ruling elite in the transition from Stalinism to capitalism.
Post-electoral negotiations to form a PiS – Civic Platform government failed and the brothers Kaczynski opted for a minority cabinet supported by Self Defence and the reactionary ultra-Catholic League of Polish Families (LPR). This summer, Self-Defence and the League of Polish Families officially joined the cabinet to form one of the more exotic Polish governments in recent history. It was dubbed the “accidental government” by the international press.
In an attempt to face down the double treat of increased working class militancy on the one hand, and the exodus of young and skilled workers, on the other hand, the Law and Justice government stepped up its ‘patriotic campaigns’. The Kaczynski brothers hit the front pages with homophobic and anti-German statements. President Lech Kaczynski, who banned a gay pride march when he was the major of Warsaw, provoked outrage when he floated the idea of reintroducing the death penalty.
Subsequently they tried to appeal to national and anti-communist feelings, by campaigning for a ‘fourth republic’. This, in effect, is a attempted purge of the state. They used the files of the security services from the Stalinist-era to ‘cleanse’ everyone from official life who had any links whatsoever, with the Jaruzelski Stalinist regime. Even priests and high officials of the Catholic Church came under fire, and they where criticised for their role in negotiating with the former Stalinist regime.
In case you don`t like socialists/communists, ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D read Foreign Policy magazine`s prediction for future, by Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist, in his article The 10 crises you aren't expecting but should be. He writes about a disastrous come back of Ducks into power.
In Poland, the Civic Platform (PO)-led ruling coalition has successfully promoted a moderate, pro-market, pro-western agenda and has become one of Eastern Europe's most stable and capable governments. But under this fat tail scenario, the global economic outlook pushes Poland into a severe recession. Following an anti-market, anti-foreigner, and thinly veiled anti-banking/anti-Semitic electoral campaign, the populist/nationalist Law and Justice party (PIS) takes power in 2011, and the country turns inward. The new government blames capitalism (as well as the west in general and PO in particular) for all of Poland's ills. Its policy agenda is economically statist and culturally intolerant and nationalist.
The PIS-led government asserts control over a broad range of state and quasi-state companies in sectors like energy, mining, and banking/insurance. Officials appoint boards of directors for these companies based less on competence than on political loyalty. Poland withdraws its commitment to join the eurozone. The government scores domestic political points via attacks on both the EU and Russia -- with negative strategic and economic consequences. PIS launches corruption "witch hunts" against former communists, PO party loyalists, and foreigners, destabilizing Poland's economy and generating capital flight.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_BremmerRead about other crisis predicted by Bremmer, e.g., Russia`s palace coup or Ukraine`s disintegration. Great expectations! ;D ;D ;D ;D eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/28/the_10_crises_you_arent_expecting_but_should_be_part_1eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/30/the_10_crises_you_arent_expecting_but_should_be_part_2Why did I always have another impression? ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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paulo
Just born
Posts: 44
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Post by paulo on Jul 7, 2009 0:29:45 GMT 1
I took that EU Profiler test you cited, Tuftabis. I can't say where I "fell" there, but I am somewhat anxious as to how powerful the EU could become. I had no idea....
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paulo
Just born
Posts: 44
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Post by paulo on Jul 7, 2009 0:44:08 GMT 1
Re: PiS, and their wanting to open the old State Security files:
Doubtlessly, this is desired for political reasons, BUT, let the truth come out. It will help keep the people who cooperated with the communists too much, honest...After all, THEY are political people, too!
If someone cooperated with the communists just a little, the people can decide, and STILL, it is important to help keep those folks honest in the future! Maybe some will say, 'Yes, I made a mistake. I won't do it again, because I'm convinced I did a wrong thing.' That could really help some people who feel guilty. Sadly, this is very rare in politics; BUT let's give people a chance to lead by example. I fear I may be too idealistic, however. What do you think?
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Post by tufta on Jul 7, 2009 10:56:40 GMT 1
Paul, PiS is by no means a nationalist party. On the opposite! I can`t agree. I think it was clear from your previous post in this thread that you can't agree? ;D The mayor of Jaslo is not the whole PiS. You are looking at some marginals, little games, not at the whole picture. More distance to what the media want us to think and discuss about! ;D ;D ;D ;D You should add a site from some German and Russian magazine calling them dwarfs, catholic ultranationalistric loonies, antisemites, potatoes or whatever. ;D ;D ;D Bo, you don't have to back YOUR opinion with socialist and Ian Bremmer. I believe YOU that YOU think they are nationalist. However I would like to think that this opinion of yours is based solely on your cool analysis, conducted without a trace of emotions, analyzis of what you see in Poland. I agree however that a clever politician should be able to do his job with a smile on his face and without eliciting the feeling PiS elicits both in Poland and elsewhere. That is one of the reasons I vote PO Why did I always have another impression? ;D ;D ;D ;D [/quote] Frankly? ;D |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 7, 2009 21:18:27 GMT 1
The mayor of Jaslo is not the whole PiS. You are looking at some marginals, little games, not at the whole picture. More distance to what the media want us to think and discuss about! ;D ;D ;D ;D Again, I disagree. The case of the mayor wasn`t blown by the media at all. The article just mentioned the city council`s plans without any details. I got suspicious - is it possible they are from PiS? I started googling for culprits and .... Taaadaaam! The mayor who ordered to cut down the tree is from PiS indeed!!! And it is not only one seperate case. Whenever I hear, read or watch a foolishly mad politician with nationalist obsession, he or she is usually from PiS. It is sad but true that I associate the party with nationalism and various silly phobias. I think most intelligent and educated people do, that is why we never vote PiS. We leave it to the elderly uneducated underpriviliged people - they are PiS`s most faithful voters. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D You are reading my mind. Yes, I think so. Tufta, when I see and hear Duck brothers, I can`t remain cool and emotionless. That is why my opinion IS based on my emotional analysis. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Me too. ;D ;D ;D Who was PO`s number one in Warsaw? Buzek? European elections    Why not? |
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Post by tufta on Jul 7, 2009 21:52:28 GMT 1
Bo, I will not defend PiS to the last drop of my blood. ;D Especially that they are doomed and their role will only diminish -as we have agreed in another thread. But there's a difference between what is PiS programme and what Jarosław says. Also there's a difference between what some provincional town mayour does and what is the real stake of the game in Warsaw (exuse sounding so terribly now, i do feel how terribly I sound). Please notice how manye PiS and PO have in common when the personal incompabilities are taken away. Please notice how many sensible politicians from PiS are now on PO. Both parties do overlap verey much, and both are not lucky leaders-wise. |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 7, 2009 22:29:09 GMT 1
Re: PiS, and their wanting to open the old State Security files: Doubtlessly, this is desired for political reasons, BUT, let the truth come out. It will help keep the people who cooperated with the communists too much, honest...After all, THEY are political people, too! If someone cooperated with the communists just a little, the people can decide, and STILL, it is important to help keep those folks honest in the future! Maybe some will say, 'Yes, I made a mistake. I won't do it again, because I'm convinced I did a wrong thing.' That could really help some people who feel guilty. Sadly, this is very rare in politics; BUT let's give people a chance to lead by example. I fear I may be too idealistic, however. What do you think? Re: PiS, and their wanting to open the old State Security files: Doubtlessly, this is desired for political reasons, BUT, let the truth come out. It will help keep the people who cooperated with the communists too much, honest...After all, THEY are political people, too! If someone cooperated with the communists just a little, the people can decide, and STILL, it is important to help keep those folks honest in the future! Maybe some will say, 'Yes, I made a mistake. I won't do it again, because I'm convinced I did a wrong thing.' That could really help some people who feel guilty. Sadly, this is very rare in politics; BUT let's give people a chance to lead by example. I fear I may be too idealistic, however. What do you think? The archives should have been opened in 1990 at latest. But Solidarity leaders who took power after communists, weren`t vengeful. Besides, they feared that revealing agents and moles in Solidarity ranks might spoli their image. Today, after 20 years, it is too late. People denounced by historians as agents claim they are innocent, that their names accidentally were put in the archives of secret police. It is often impossible to check it out now because witnesses died and the past got blurred in people`s memory. That is why some real agents lie cheekily they weren`t ones. The sin of omission from the past haunts the presence. |
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;D ;D
