photo of PixabayIt is not that the vote ends with our task, and now it is time for Members who are to forge a better future in disputes and negotiations. civilian society that has awakened should never sleep again
Politicians have a natural reluctance to share the authority they have received in elections, so today, while they inactive remember who they owe it to, they request to be forced to cooperate and teach them to co-ordinate with citizens. Our duty, more in our interest, is not only to preserve the memory of crucial moments, but besides to stay active contributors to the improvement of a country which, after 8 years of authoritarian rule, has much to catch up on.
In an uproared, dangerous world, only modernly organized, decentralised, active societies have a chance to make and possibly survive. This unexpected civic activity of fresh years brings us closer to the political nation. For us to truly become it must be cared for both by citizens and by power. Although the second may seem to have more crucial things to do. I don't think they do.
On your own example
On July 16, 2021, I posted a comment on my profile on the FB that I started: “Despairly Despaired Looking for the origin of failure of PowerIt’s okay. ” A day later, the entry had 9 1000 likes. Steaking comments expressed akin to my emotions – despair, rage due to the demolition of the state and the sharing of society. At the time, we thought we were helpless against the barbarian PiS machine.
Three days later, July 19th evening, I was driving in a car erstwhile the telephone flooded the text messages. I stood on the side of the road expecting the worst. Meanwhile, it was the friends who informed that Donald Tusk in the rhetorical figure of the rally speech appealed to my entry and assured me by name at the Long marketplace in Gdańsk that I and I would no longer be like ourselves. I will add from the chronicle work that thanks to the Prime Minister, among others, the entry, although long, has present almost 20,000 likes, 15 1000 releases, 3 1000 comments. And what is more interesting is only a twelve of them suggesting to me ubek origin, intellectual illness, or clinical depression requiring treatment.
But I remember this July afternoon not only due to the fact that I was a common citizen, years after leaving the media, I wrote my most opinionative text. Above all, I was moved by what he said and how Tusk said. The energy with which the crowd was speaking and cheering. I haven't seen that enthusiasm in a long time.
Writing that post, I was certain that I would die in the authoritarian planet of the Law and Justice. Tusk rekindled a spark of hope that things might be different. Hope I lost after 4 years of street demonstrations, summarized by the failure of the 2019 election by democracy. After this defeat, I left Polish citizens with whom I have been active since memorable events on December 16, 2016.
Let me remind you, this cold day began with a solidarity-based protest of free media against censorship and restrictions on the rights of journalists in the parliament, and ended with a blockade of the parliament's "marshall beloved" by opposition MPs and an illegal adoption of the budget by the Law and Justice in the Column Hall.
Under the Sejm there were thousands of people moved by bulging images, broadcast on television, then the democratic sensitivity was not so dulled by the Law and Justices. But spontaneous protest – without leaders, without cooperation with opposition MPs – had no chance of success, expired tired before dawn.
I was in a group that the police pulled off the street around 3:00 a.m., making area for a black wick. She escaped from the Sejm Jarosław Kaczyński. I saw his frightened face up close. Unfortunately, we couldn't take advantage of the President's panic moment. We Poles were disorganized or defenseless. We watched the PiS bargain our barely built democracy. People felt the uniqueness of the moment. But they only managed to make individual gestures. Like a taxi driver who categorically refused to accept payment erstwhile he found out where my friend and I were coming from.
Warsaw, July 20, 2017. Protest before the Sejm in defence of the courts, photograph by Catherine Pierchchała
On the coup d'état, which was a de facto budget vote in the home of Columns of the Sejm, to which no opposition was allowed, we had the right to respond with public opposition. And if he were consistent, mass, coordinated, not dispersed, he could be effective. A town of protest stood under the Sejm. The gathering area was occupied by the opposition. Members were besides amazed by the fresh rules of the game, or deficiency of them. They had adequate determination until January 12, 2017.
Those outside remained under parliament for years. The full first word of the PiS came under the sign of a demonstration under the Sejm and blocking almost the full Krakowskie Przedmieście – a tourist, typical way of the capital, on which Jarosław Kaczyński, utilizing cynically the crash of a government plane, built a Smolenian religion of hatred. A fewer days later, a akin theatre took place under Wawel. Across from both cities, there was initially a handful.
On the night of 16 December, so many young people came out on the street. Moments earlier, in September, they participated massively in the black protest. They only returned during the anti-abortion riots in the second half of October 2020.
In December 2016, I besides saw police officers who, with tears in their eyes, issued instructions to the wards to push the demonstrators distant from the Sejm. In the following years, the specially chosen officers with expanding satisfaction and without emotion applied physical coercion. That's how police barely lost their trust and respect.
The territory of the Sejm was fenced by barriers, power was alienated from citizens. There were many but numerically modest trials in the courts. Fortunately, the courts, despite the efforts of PiS and Solidarne Poland, remained a simplification in justice and law.
Awakening Citizen patriotism
Andrzej Duda started, in spite of his oath, breaking the Constitution almost from the day of his oath. Even as editor of Gazeta Wyborcza I watched courageous protest on this issue of Polish citizens under the governor's palace. Paweł Kasprzak, Paweł Wrabec, Kajetan Wróblewski and respective others stood there.
Andrzej Duda is simply a liar and perjury – picket in Warsaw under the governor's palace (5 February 2016) and in Wrocław Under the rod (26 February 2016))
I besides looked at the creation of CODEs, from the first entry by Mateusz Kiikowski, under which there were expressively increasing likes, and which provoked us in the editorial board to print in the Monday edition (after boring Sunday), a text about the emerging fresh movement. However, after respective marches that did not impress the Law and Justice, I was convinced that only extremist activity Polish citizens can awaken a conscious and active civilian society, ready for a long-term, sacrifice-intensive action to rebuild democracy.
That is why erstwhile I left Wyborcza I joined the citizens of Poland. For 4 years, we stood on the streets with another groups and organizations. In interesting discussions and disputes among ourselves, at informal but regular meetings in Jazdów, or, among others, during the alleged civilian Congresses of the Democratic Movements, we tried to make a strategy of opposition to the written waltz, which destroyed the country in subsequent acts of political vandalism.
The effects were, to put it mildly, different. They do not teach us in schools of cooperation, trust, but mainly competition and individualism. And that was frequently seen. Still, it was worth talking about. We've developed a fresh social code in a small bit. According to him, we tried, unfortunately separately, to awaken a citizen in our country. The basis was the mention to the Polish Constitution, which, in reality and not only theoretically, became a mention point for us. We were going back to reading Henry D. Thoreau and his thought of civilian disobedience, or Gene Sharp's advocate of nonviolent combat. erstwhile we met with Srđa Popovic, we reached out to the experiences of the Serbian democratic movement “Otpor”, operating in the 1990s. They formulated a simple, three-point program: the removal from power of Slobo Milosevič, free elections and the democratisation of the country. And in action they were based on consistent passive opposition and simple happenings, specified as a walk of mirrors, in which police officers were looking at demonstrators.
In 1 respect, it was a wonderful time. I met absolutely unique 4 lawyers from the Free Sads, full of energy and courage of the organizer of the Women's Strike and activists of another women's organizations, specified as Agnieszka Czerederecka, Marta Lempart, Clementina Suchanów, Ela Podlesna, adequate educators from the Foundation of the Long Table Forum, the SEDNO Association and the Modrzevski Conversitory, determined colleagues from the Movement Citizens Solidarni in Action, and, of course, wildly brave and amazingly anarchist friends from the ORP, already mentioned Pawłów, Wojtek Kinasiewicz, Magda Pecul-Kudelska, Rafał Szymczak, or Prof. Michał Dadlez.
Many people standing since the first days of the coup on the street then engaged in the happenings of the Volunteer Opposition Brigade, a modern version of the Wroclaw Orange Alternative. Others acted on the east border. I can't name them all here, due to the fact that there's not adequate space on the pages and places to remember.
In December 2018 I described in the civilian media Ark Rat, who during the local elections He exposed Patrick Jako's lies entering his election meetings and exposing himself to aggression, not only verbal, supporters of the politics of Solidarne Poland.
I hope that not long will historians begin to describe this time, and not 1 of these exceptional people operating in Warsaw and many another cities and towns will be forgotten.
It was they who prepared with religion and determination the dirt on which Donald Tuska could sow religion in triumph and awaken the nation to citizenship. Without educational actions of the Tour de Constitution, without tens of pages on the FB and created from voluntary citizen media discharges, where the power scams were described, the language of the hatred of the Law and Justice was analysed, or yet without bottom-up promotion actions would not be successful on October 15, 2023.
It was not only a immense number of voters (nearly 75 percent of the eligible) but besides the results obtained by opposition parties, for which a full of 11 287 436 people voted for (3 646 582 people voted for the united right). A powerful mandate that, in my opinion, prevents the Law and Justice from officially negating the results.
In post-election programs, the rulers brag first, and journalists and adversaries from democratic parties, to my surprise, do not remind them that this consequence has been obtained at the expense of hundreds of millions, if not billions of PLN spent illegally on campaigns, media engagements that have long ceased to be public and have become propaganda bark. That they manipulated constituency by doing large scale gerrymandering [tampering the course of constituency boundaries—ed.]. They besides received unprecedented support from the church, which for 8 years has stood in the vast majority on 1 side of the political barricade. It wasn't an honest election.
The opposition could number on real free media relations, usage modest financial resources and support more or little formal civilian society organisations. And they were the ones who made a large contribution to success.
Without a fresh model of governance, populisms will return
When I read present the publicists who compose that Poles have done their occupation and now it's time for politicians, I want to shout out travesting Tusk. We must not only guarantee that the citizen does not walk alone anymore, but that the policy never again goes on without the active and crucial participation of citizens, not only during elections.
This activity must not be put out. Even politicians should realize that. After all, they realize that the PiS has not yet said the last word and is inactive trying to undermine or blur the clear consequence of democratic elections. Who knows what another aid they will request from Poles.
PIS Power Benefits
If you can talk about the pluses of 8 years of written power, then it is simply a awakened sense of civic justice. You gotta usage it.
There was a black protest first. Then the PiS lost a fewer percent support and never got it back. But he inactive hasn't changed his strategy. The consequence was the tragic death of Isabella from Pszczyna and respective another women giving birth in Polish hospitals, who were not helped due to fear of oppressive power or due to ideological reasons.
In Ireland in 2012 death of 30 years Savity Halappanavar for sepsis, after refusing abortion, was the beginning of mass protests that ended after six years of referendum, a extremist change in law and legalization of abortion without limitation until 12 weeks of pregnancy and then in the event of aletal malformations of the fetus or a serious threat to the mother's life. In our country, these waves of protests were not enough, although their scale was unprecedented before, and the brutality of officers towards women in the autumn of 2020 exceeded all limits.
When Russia attacked Ukraine one more time we picked up on a civilian flight. We did this against the government, which, until the last fewer days, demonstrated indifference to what is happening beyond the east border. The scale of the aid of the rally, which the state supported trace and only after a fewer days, was so large that it was not only possible to host more than 1 million war refugees in homes, but to force the Law and Justice to reorient policy towards Ukraine. It was not their taste to see the last weeks of the run erstwhile they played Ukrainian card without hesitation hoping for electoral benefits. Without the civic effort of the Law and Justice, he would most likely do nothing or limit himself to empty gestures.
Another proof of waking us from the lethargy was marches on June 4 and October 1. Calling Tusk and another opposition leaders was an impulse. But without renewed civic awareness, marches would not be so many and energetic. Flags, banners with hundreds of passwords. We, participants, know well that contrary to the written propaganda, this creative face was born spontaneously, without organization inspiration.
Until election day came. Obstructing voting in large cities that have always been opposed to the governments of the “anti-Western anti-elite of provincial roots”, as described by Bulgarian politicalist Ivan Krystev, PiS paradoxically allowed Poles to feel like a community erstwhile again. We saw a couple of hours of queues where they were talking, singing, joking, and the people who were standing were supporting fellow countrymen delivering pizza, coffee, warm blankets. many media coverage of these events has refreshed the affirmative meaning of solidarity, patriotism.
Of course, in Kaczyński's mysticism, he began building a fairy tale communicative of "falsified" elections the following day. This, as in the case of the Smolensk tragedy, will be a key component of the fresh political agenda. It is designed to aid him activate the toughest electorate, rekindle emotions, set a fresh axis of dispute, strengthen divisions and introduce fresh cracks. We'll see this on November 11th. Until then, the PiS will surely not quit power and will usage public media to boost emotions to boiling levels. This is not a organization of liable people.
Only the continuous work at the base can weaken the effect of this lie, whose strength and scale we can feel already during independency Day. Notabene stolen from Poles by fascists Bąkiewicz.
The time of reconciliation is coming
7 million people voted for PiS. Not only due to the state's finances, it is impossible to buy them with further gifts. We gotta convince them that they did not go down to hell, that the planet that we have the chance to build together will besides be better for most of them. This message is much easier and more effective for citizens who have been working on reconciliation for years.
Such an crucial historical policy for the right-wing electorate can be reborn on the liberal and left-wing side mainly through bottom-up actions. They will not have the notes of falsehood that right-wing supporters may want to hear in the government or organization message of the Civic Coalition, the 3rd Way, or the PSL.
The Law and Justice have greatly weakened, devastated, social capital. It will take years before we rebuild it, and this can be reduced by civic activity. Education needs the support of parents, well, if they could organize and not only act, but besides pass on their experiences to the next years, so that they do not start again. Local governments should get more autonomy. And no 1 can control local authorities better than NGOs – formal and informal social groups, experienced concrete citizens, having authority built for 8 years of protests. Who will rapidly decode slogans threatening sex and LGBT ideology, as not people from equality organizations, operating on the level of blocks, streets, settlements and districts in direct contact with residents.
There is simply a question about the village and how to scope tiny communities. It is in neighbouring relations, but besides civilian organizations, that the process of forgiveness must begin as shortly as possible. due to the fact that while guilty of crimes, key politicians of power, must face independent courts or the Court of State, so citizens of both sides of the dispute should search to forget what was there as shortly as possible.
This is peculiarly hard in the age of social media, where everyone can look back at any time and, for example, read what he wrote, promoted the neighbor, owner of the local grocery store, our household doctor, teacher of our child. It is simply a large task for organised civilian society, especially since the organization Church, for years predestined in Poland for this kind of action, has compromised and must abdicate from the position of conscience of the nation.
Tusk, Holown, Kosiniak-Kamish, the Blackest of the most bitter supporters of the Law and Justice will not believe. A block neighbor, a social activist in the neighborhood, a social net journalist, much sooner.
So let us organize ourselves, let us not hang our street experiences. Let's get to work, not looking at erstwhile the government will rise, which, as shortly as it is established, must immediately support these actions from the legal, organisational and financial sides.
photo of Pixabay
