“Everyone is predicting the end of PiS in its current form, but in my view, there is still a chance of reaching an agreement. I know that talks are underway. Party leader Jarosław Kaczyński has spoken with former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki. As far as I know, fairly intensive discussions are also taking place between politicians through other channels. So I would not write off the chances of preserving unity, although the damage has already been done,” said Tomasz Grodecki, a columnist for Gazeta Polska.
“The divisions within PiS are plain to see. The question now is how to ensure that any potential agreement is institutionalised and stable. If they reach another deal only to fall out again in the autumn, when the first electoral lists are being drawn up, it will be pointless. We also need to ask what they are actually fighting over. Unfortunately, they are fighting for places on the electoral lists. They are clearly not fighting over the party’s programme or over Poland, because so far I have seen no sign of that. The dispute is plainly about positions, and that always looks bad,”
Grodecki said on the programme Today’s Guest.
He stressed that a party that airs its internal affairs openly in the media is displaying weakness. Every dispute within PiS and every internal secret, he added, is immediately made public.
“I think the dispute is also about something else. Perhaps we are not on the verge of Mateusz Morawiecki’s faction leaving Law and Justice. Perhaps we are witnessing the end of a certain era of the United Right,” added Jakub Maciejewski, a columnist for Republika.
He noted that the current turmoil surrounding PiS is particularly dangerous because it amounts to a civil war within the party.
“When members of a party turn on one another, while knowing the most about each other’s secrets, such internal conflicts are far more brutal than clashes between two different parties, where certain accusations can be anticipated from the outset,” Maciejewski added.
“They all have more serious enemies to contend with. Therefore, both sides, provided they genuinely want to achieve something for Poland, should stop and think, and each should take a step back. In my view, there is still a chance of an agreement, perhaps even one that lasts until the election. Will it succeed? Will reason prevail? Or perhaps simple political pragmatism? Or will madness ultimately win? It is difficult to say today,”
Grodecki concluded.