What the Prime Minister will say
Today Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is to deliver an expose of his government in the Sejm. Afterwards, speeches of individual parliamentary clubs are planned, and in the evening voting on the vote of confidence for the new cabinet of Prime Minister Morawiecki will take place.
The opposition wants to hear concrete facts about the state of the ministry of finance and the country’s budget, as well as the Prime Minister’s ideas for resolving the most pressing issues, for example the functioning of the healthcare system and the retirement pensions system. In tomorrow’s speech, prime minister Morawiecki is allegedly going to focus on economic matters, namely investments in infrastructure, for example the Central Transport Hub and the new ring roads in most of Poland’s major cities.
“I remember prime minister Morawiecki’s expose from two years ago, when he first held the office, and I can tell you, that he hasn’t fulfilled any of the promises he made back then. Now, he has extended time to fulfil them and we will see if he addresses them at all or proposes new solutions”- says Jan Grabiec, spokesman for the Civic Platform Party.
“The opposition made a poor judgement of the promises we made, because not only have we fulfilled them, we’ve done more than we aimed for. We are a reliable government, and it was represented by the unprecedented trust of the voters, who gave us 43% of the votes to the parliament”- says Jan Maria Jackowski, Law and Justice Party Senator.
Brazil
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets yesterday to demand the impeachment of the Supreme Court judge, Gilmar Mendes. Mendes is accused of going against the spirit of the law, freeing a number of corrupt politicians over the years from what were considered certain prison sentences. The latest example is the recent decision to free the former President Luiz da Silva from prison 7 years early.
Massive crowds gathered in over 300 Brazilian cities. The largest crowds could be seen at Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, the city’s main street, which traditionally serves as the focal point for political protests in the city, as well as the famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. A large march also took place in Vitoria, in the state of Espirito Santo. Protesters argue that the Brazilian Supreme Court has been stacked with political operatives of the socialist Worker’s Party which ruled the country for eleven years before the conservative President Jair Bolsonaro won the Presidential election of 2018.
More protests are expected in the coming weeks as the Supreme Court’s decision to undermine years of anti-corruption work in the country has stirred up emotions among law-abiding Brazilians.
POLAND FIRST TO FIGHT – first of a kind conference in the USA
Today the United States Capitol, Washington D.C. is hosting a historical conference titled „POLAND FIRST TO FIGHT”. The conference organized by Coalition of Polish Americans is to last three days. The purpose is to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. The conference is a gathering of historians, journalists, filmmakers, senior officials, museum curators, and publishers. Chair of the Program Committee is Prof. Marek Kornat from the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
The details of the conference can be found at the iPoland.org website. It will also be live-streamed directly from the National Press Club in Washington, DC on November 18 through 20, 2019. The link is available on Twitter under the PoloniaSF account.
The Confederation Party : They will have options to choose from
The Confederation party, on the other hand, has no shortage of candidates for the presidential primaries. 9 politicians associated with the formation will run in the electoral primaries.
”These primaries are in fact the biggest debate, the largest representation of possible options on the ideological right in recent years. This was expected of us by Poles and we are implementing it today. We have 9 candidates for the presidential primaries. Out of those whom we invited to participate in these primaries, those 9 responded positively”- says Robert Winnicki, member of The Confederacy Party
”We have 3 people that have already participated in the presidential elections, so we have a group of experienced and energetic leaders. There will be plenty to choose from”- says Witold Tumanowicz, member of The Confederacy Party.
Disappearing primaries
The Civic Platform party previously announced presidential primaries in its grouping. It seems, however, that this will not come into effect, as no one leader is willing to be the “proverbial hare” for Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. According to commentators, this situation is favorable for the party’s chairman, Grzegorz Schetyna, as it allows for his maintaining control over the party.
Who will be Andrzej Duda’s main rival in next year’s elections? The idea of the presidential primaries in the Civic Coalition did not catch on effectively, as there are no willing candidates. According to media reports, despite the incentives offered, neither the new Senate Marshal Tomasz Grodzki, nor Radosław Sikorski or Rafał Trzaskowski are eager to participate in the primaries.
”At this stage, anyone can announce their candidacy. We are waiting until tomorrow, November 19th. It is not known whether anyone will come forward, except for Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska. If not, on December 14th a national convention will be held for around 1000 people for choosing a suitable candidate. Everything is ahead of us”- says Robert Kropiwnicki, Civic Platform Party.
”These elections are not just for insiders of the Civic Platform Party. We want to hear the voices of the Polish women and men. We want to see who they would like as candidates for the office of president”- says Michał Szczerba, Civic Platform Party.
According to Ryszard Czarnecki, MEP of Law and Justice, the idea of the presidential primaries in the Civic Coalition was political fiction from the very beginning.
”1200 people will be able to vote and state their opinions. Anyone, from functionaries, activists, parliamentarians, to people who have functions in local structures. Not all members will be able to participate. As you can see, these are very controlled elections, but it seems that there is one candidate who stands out among others. Although, this desire for candidacy may only serve as a reminder of one’s self, a cry of “I’m still here”. This was mentioned and promoted by other candidates, Minister Sikorski above all”- says Ryszard Czarnecki, Law and Justice Party.
Tomorrow, November 19th, is the deadline for announcing candidacy for the primaries which will ultimately select the Civic Platform party’s candidate for the presidency. The party’s final decision in this matter is to be made on December 14th. As of today, only Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska has explicitly declared that she will participate in them.
