Polish politics spirals out of control

Last year I was on holiday on the anniversary of 9/11 and I didn't write about all conspiracy theories concerning those terrorist attacks. Some time ago the topics of “inside job” fascinated me, later on I gave all those dwellings up. Every time a big tragedy happens conspiracy theories proliferate. Probably a human mind tries to cope with what is beyond its understanding by coming up with most ridiculous explanations. The world is slowly forgetting about those tragic events, this year the run-up to the anniversary was marked by a plan of American pastor Terry Jones to burn Koran to demonstrate his objection to plans to build a mosque in the vicinity of ground zero in NYC. I wonder if the pastor realised his deed would be like a red rag to a bull – it could only provoke subsequent acts of violence from fundamentalist Muslims. Politicians’ reactions were very swift – world leaders firmly condemned and dissociated themselves from the disruptive plans and the pastor eventually called off the heinous event. I wonder what he wanted to achieve – what was the point in sparking off another conflict? After all don’t Catholics and Muslims believe in the same God but in a different way? Should relations between religions be based on mutual respect? Instead of dialogue we I saw headlines “World at the mercy of an idiot”. Does it prove power of one man?

In Poland despite cold weather it is getting only hotter. On Tuesday “Gazeta Polska” published an interview with Jarosław Kaczyński in which he envisages Lech Wałęsa will soon be discredited and after his name is dragged through the mud Lech Kaczyński will become a symbol of Solidarity. The late president indeed was a member and advisor of Solidarity, however his merits cannot be compared to those who really worked out a compromise with communist authorities and fought out some freedoms achievable in the limitations of political system based on dependence on Soviet Union. His brother’s designs look like nothing else but an attempt to make up for lack of big achievements in PRL and to get his own back on those who were building independent Poland after 1989 and were successful in politics. It seems to be inconvenient to him that twin brothers did little to go down in history and it justifies the steps taken to rewrite the history. “It’s us, not them, who should be heroes, who should be remembered by generations, who dismantled the communism, if the facts are evidence against us, the worse for the facts”, is what Jarosław might think. Jarosław says it is mean to say his brother’s presidency was not very outstanding (as Tadeusz Mazowiecki had said)…

Can finally anyone tell what Lech Kaczyński had done to be deemed to be an outstanding president? From 2006 he proved to be mediocre president steered by his twin brother, who failed to represent Poland abroad with dignity, was servile to his brother’s government and squabbled with Donald Tusk’s government, was unfamiliar with the rules of diplomacy, deteriorated Poland’s relations with neighbouring countries, favoured some social and professional groups, called national mourning every few months, appointed his henchmen rather than professionals for official positions in state administration and took umbrage at any occasion. Now any attempt to criticise the conduct of late president and refusal to glorify him and his heritage (was it said what his heritage actually is?) is treated as declaring war to the most outstanding politician after 1989.

Jarosław Kaczyński could not fail to suggest Poland is a Soviet-German colony what prompted a press conference held by politicians of three parties whose members sit in the parliament. All voiced their outrage at Kaczyński’s interview and expressed their disapproval of insulting Poland and Poles. Last week saw also two other unprecedented moves – Marek Migalski was ousted from PiS’ delegation to European Parliament, Elżbieta Jakubiak was suspended from her membership in the party for lack of allegiance. A journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza (imp)lies the most likely reason for that step was an alleged interview in which Mrs Jakubiak had said; “Jarosław must feel co-responsible for the death of his brother, if it had not been for his ambitions, Lech Kaczyński would have stayed on as university professor”… (BTW – where can this interview be found, article in Wyborcza lacks precise reference?!) Is it a key to the door?

The so-called System accused Kaczyński of insanity. What he does may seem to appear as a struggle of a blind man, but you should remember Kaczyński is a man of steel and never loses touch. In totalitarian systems dissidents were deliberately dubbed lunatics to detract from their “twaddle”. To my young eye Jarosław Kaczyński is in a top form, sane as never, knows very well what he is doing, has a plan to follow out and is determined to do it. In short his goal quite likely is to dishonour heroes of Solidarity, the current government and president. Consequently, he might be intent on building his brother’s legend as the only one who had moral rights to be a heir of Solidarity’s attainments. Calling current state officials Soviet or German servants sounds then as nothing else but invoking fear and an attempt to find any reason to tell Poles they don’t have legitimacy for running this country.

Kaczyński no longer cares about the support. He has his avid believers who hang on every word he says and would probably execute any order he would give, including bringing down the government by force. The rest of Poles turn their backs on the sane leader or don’t give a damn. The recent polls show PO enjoys support of roughly 52% of Poles, PiS of 25%, SLD of 20%. Many Poles have had enough of what has been going on. The rising backing for PO cannot be justified by their good rule, only by fear of PiS back in power. Good performance of SLD suggests their new anti-clerical strategy bears fruits. Is the diagnosis Poles are sick of privileged position of Catholic church in public life spot-on? There is still an empty space in Polish politics, Janusz Palikot claims, and organises a congress of his new movement which may become a new, truly liberal (in social and economic terms) party to fill it in. Is there a demand for such a party in Poland. Palikot’s views quite well overlap mine, but does a party or movement run by such a controversial lunatic stand a chance to exceed the 5% parliament entry threshold?

On Friday Gazeta Wyborcza published a letter of some of Smolensk crash fatalities’ families to the First Lady, who want to travel to Smolensk six months after the crash and take the cross from outside the presidential palace with themselves. It seemed it could be an excellent idea to commemorate the deceased passengers of TU-154 and to solve the problem of the cross. Predictably, self-styled defenders of the cross, supported by politicians of PiS denied them the right to move away the cross. How long will the Polish state put up with people who appropriated the symbol of tragedy which affected mostly families who had lost their relatives in that accident, and then granted themselves moral right to decide where the cross should stand?

Will Kaczynski’s crusade ever end? On Friday leader of PiS adjudicated current prime minister, president and a few prominent politicians of the ruling party bear a political and moral responsibility for the tragedy. Still I see no causation between PO’s alleged policy of bringing discredit on late president and the plane crash. The same could have happened to Mr Tusk if his visit had been scheduled three days later. Jarosław Kaczynski used imperative sentences – those politicians mentioned above have to disappear from Polish politics forever. In a democracy only voters can force them to step down, moral judgements passed by Jarosław Kaczynski either stem out of his lust for revenge for brother’s death or are a part of a more complex plan to sling mud at Polish government, aimed at proving Mr Tusk and Mr Komorowski must not exercise power. I also fear how this plan (provided it exists) may end up. Given the level of rancour in the Polish society, the readiness of ardent believers of Mr Kaczynski to rise up, his determination to glorify his brother and insult his political opponents, it is not inconceivable some people may take law into their hands… I read yesterday on Internet forums on WP.PL all recent Kaczynski’s actions may serve as a justification for a coup d’etat. If Poland is ruled by a Soviet president and a Soviet prime minister, who should be eliminated from the Polish nation (as the defenders of the cross allegedly chanted on Friday) because they contributed to the death of previous president and 95 other people, it is in the best interest of Poland to topple the government and depose the president. Hatred is in the air and unfortunately scenarios of riots, bloodshed or some sort of civil war, though rather unfounded, cannot be totally ruled out.

On crosses, rants, presidents and would-be presidents

But before I dwell on the current issues my apologies to Adthelad. Regrettably, I did not find time to watch “The Trap” so understandably I cannot review it today. When will it happen? Hmmm… Pending…

I had a second busy week at work, but everything seems to indicate the pressure is going to ease up a bit in the coming days so maybe three evenings will be enough to watch three parts of the documentary, jot down some key points and remarks and then put it together and share on the blog with the readers.

From the beginning of the year weather has had many swings and has surprised Poles many times. This week’s stars were storms and downpours: one on Tuesday, another yesterday. If meteorologists are right, today we should expect a repetition of yesterday’s show. I have guests today, so there might be a bit of a problem, or a necessity to put them up overnight.

This week has been extremely hot in the politics. On Tuesday Poland witnessed an attempt to move the cross from outside the presidential palace. The operation was scheduled for that day, as an agreement between the scouts (who had put up the cross), the Church (cross is a religious symbol) and the presidential office (it is their premise) has been reached. Predictably, unrelenting defenders of the cross (excellent rant by fellow blogger Scatts, I fully back him) blocked the whole operation, the state gave in and the cross is still left outside the palace and a group of weirdoes are still guarding it. Many leftist and liberal commentators hailed the Tuesday events as the failure of Polish state. I partly agree, for the following reasons:

1. Poland is theoretically a secular state so this symbol should not be present in a public space, in front of one the most important official edifices, but on the other hand it is no longer a religious symbol, it is a purely political symbol. The cranks who scuffled with the police on Tuesday called priests “communist secret service agents in disguise” and named scouts “Bolsheviks”, as befits truly religious Catholics. They pray during their sentry, but I wonder to whom – I do not think to God, this is the shrine to late president Kaczynski, I suppose. The cross is a political symbol (and no mistake?).

2. Why can a group of people appropriate a public place and a cross they didn’t even put up. In most countries such an illegal assembly outside a public building (unless there’s a reason for it, as it was during the mourning in April) would be gently scattered to four winds. Here, as the defenders of the cross point out with unhidden satisfaction, the System was totally HELPLESS. The System was overcome, the anarchy is victorious. But it is not the fact that this cross is still there that fills me with dread. I don’t care if there is a cross, two crosses, one thousand crosses and how many PiS-lovers chain themselves to them. There is a Polish proverb which goes roughly: “Let them bite your finger and they’ll eat your whole arm”. I am afraid once the state has succumbed to their claims, they will be impudently eager to break other laws.

3. And there is a reason why I am content the cross is still there. Bearing in mind how dogged its defenders are, the operation of moving it to a nearby church would end up with a bloodshed and those injured would be made martyrs. And sorry to say that, I would not swallow it. I heard double Dutch about martyrs who died in a plane crash (or rather were murdered by the System) and I would surely lose my temper if heard about a PiS-believer wounded or, Heaven forbid, killed by the functionaries of the System.

BTW – look at how Moscow looks today – the fog over the capital of Russia is the best evidence to support the hypothesis that Russians can create fog and they did it in Smolensk on 10 April ;)

I fully understand why Mr Komorowski is reluctant to move into the presidential palace. I would also feel uneasy if outside my house picketed a group of people who would call me a traitor or find me an illegitimate president.

PO once again proved to be too timorous to get to grips with some contentious issues. Two months ago I thought PO was in line with my moderate social views. SLD with its ostentatious anti-clericalism was too leftist for me. Today, if the only criterion for voting for a party were social views and I did not give a damn about the economy, I would vote for SLD…

A propos economy. What do you make of the plans of VAT hike? Am I one of the minority who think it is necessary and justified. In my perception of economic policy a balanced budget and low public debt are more likely to guarantee sustainable economic growth than low taxes which generate deficits. I have never been optimistic about moves of PiS-led government which cut taxes and other burdens when the economy was booming. Such moves are apposite when economy is in the doldrums to stimulate it, not when the growth is running at 5 or 6 per cent per year. It was like adding fuel to the fire and it contributed to current budget setbacks. Everyone knows Polish social security system is ailing, but is it a reason to cut its revenues (sickness benefit contribution) without cutting down on expenses? The same about taxes – taxation rates went down and at the same time government spending was boosted. What do I make – the objective of the government should be to generate budget surplus, through both raising taxes and retrenchments. Low level of public debt means government is unlikely to increase taxes and this certainty creates a really friendly environment for businesses. The move made by PiS in 2006 was very short-sighted and those who benefited from it surely were not the voters of the party.

Breaking news – Mr Kaczynski’s statement on the Mr Komorowski’s swearing-in ceremony.

For those who do not know yet, Mr Kaczynski was absent at that ceremony. One version is that he had to pick up his mother from a hospital (I wonder if he used a private car for it and paid for it from his own purse) and surely fortuitously arranged for the day when the ceremony was scheduled to be held, the other is, as deputy Mariusz Błaszczak had said, that Mr Kaczynski’s absence was obvious in the light of how critical PO politicians were about his brother. Hang on, is it not normal in democracy to be critical about someone else’s rule?

Now some quotes from Mr Kaczynski’s today’s appearance.

1. To zaprzysiężenie było wynikiem śmierci mojego brata i i moich bliskich (That swearing-in was an implication of my brother’s and my relatives’ deaths)
Rebuttal: If you had become a president it would also have been because of their deaths. If your brother was alive he would run for presidency, not you!

2. Sądzę, iż w dużej mierze został on wybrany prezydentem przez nieporozumienie, bo jestem przekonany, że bardzo wiele osób, które na niego głosowały zapateryzmu w Polsce nie chce (I think it was a considerable misunderstaning that Mr Komorowski was elected a president, I am convinced many of his voters do not want Zapatero-like policies in Poland).
Rebuttal: Mr Komorowski is too timid to take steps characteristic for leftist social agendas, but he was elected because many leftist voters put a cross against him to choose the lesser of two evils. As far as I can see around, most Poles want the cross to be removed from outside the palace, but they do their bits and do not protest, those who want the cross to stay there make the noise. It would have been a misunderstanding if you had been elected a president. Mr Komorowski did not lie about his Catholicism and has not used religion to wage a war against “enemies” (you love that word, do not you, it is one of your favourites). You told stories to Poles about your change and returned to the rhetoric of aggression after the lost election. If you had won, you would have done the same, it is natural for you. The result of recent election many Poles put stock in your change. Soon, when they realise you are just a mendacious man with lust for power, the support for your lousy party drops. And after all rows over the cross the one who gains will be SLD.

Over. Just a month ago I did not bear any grudge against PiS, its voters and acolytes, today I would hold back from declaring that. I think I lost my temper.