Not long ago, Krzysztof Stanowski in Channel Zero asked whether the Ministry of civilian Society truly existed.
— Is this not a joke?
He wasn't alone. For many Poles this function remains a mystery. Who is the Minister for civilian Society and what does he do?
The position was created by Donald Tusk in December 2023. The function of Minister-Member of the Council of Ministers for civilian Society does not derive straight from the Constitution. This is simply a political position aimed at working with NGOs and supporting "active citizens". The Minister does not direct a separate department — he operates within the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and is besides liable for the cooperation programme with the 3rd sector and the National Institute of Freedom.
However, the current minister, Adriana Porowska from Poland 2050, seems to realize this function in a very different way.
During the discussion in Channel Zero about the situation on the western border, where the German border guards illegally push migrants into the territory of Poland, Porowska decided to attack... The Border Defence Movement — a bottom-up citizens' initiative that arose in consequence to the inaction of the state.
Instead of thanking citizens for their commitment, Porowska decided to insult them:
There are besides migrants, and those who legally reside in Poland are besides threatened. I realize and realize that there are people who have been frightened and instrumentally utilized to go to the border.
After a while she added:
But they are very frequently the same people who hit women a fewer years ago, and now they want to defend us. These are precisely the same people.
Following this statement, Deputy talker of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak reacted quickly:
Another rude talk.
Porowska, however, did not step back. She continued:
How to look, the faces of any of these people. I'm not saying everybody.
And then:
These are very frequently people who participate in specified written militants at various kinds of demonstrations. 1 of these people is the individual who personally bullied me before the presidential debate, and I have a fewer witnesses to that.
Instead of a substantive conversation about state security, viewers received a series of individual attacks and innuendos. From the mouth of a individual who, by definition, should support civic engagement, there are words about “written battles” and “robbing women”. The speech of Porowska’s message raises serious doubts as to whether a individual with specified an approach is truly capable of representing civilian society, regardless of political sympathy.
Citizens who, in the face of the threat and passive attitude of the state, took their own initiative were publically aligned by a government typical with the violent. This is not only harmful, it besides undermines the sense of the very function that Porowska has. If civilian engagement is to be ridiculed and slandered by the government, why should the ministry?
