Sharp exit
Since 1989 there have been many governments in Poland – post-solidarity, post-communist, left-wing and right-wing. Most frequently they were ideologically and natively "mixed". any were better, any were worse. Sometimes they made controversial and even harmful decisions.
One prime minister had to step down accused of spying on Russia, another left in the atmosphere of scandal over the media bill. Along with hard-working ministers, Members, etc., there has never been a shortage of combinators and politicians focused solely on promoting themselves. Poland survived Balcerowicz's plan and the financial crisis, a time of large unemployment and mass emigration after 2004. We were raised from the Smolensk tragedy.
We were moving forward – zigzag and resistance, but forward. It's getting faster these days. At 1 point, we became a "normal western country", with a "western" social policy, an active, pro-development state—no taxi mafia, no bribes for traffic police, no beggars at the border, no oligarchs with politicians and the administration of the state, no media monopoly, no real political choice. Even our scandals and scandals have become akin to those in the "most developed countries of Europe". The years of the regulation of the United Right were - despite the pandemic and the Russian impact on Ukraine - years of prosperity, increase in wealth and ambition. Despite accusations of breaking the regulation of law, freedom flourished. Europe could be promoted as a victim of “written” violence, vulgar slogans to pave the way for a political career; many celebrities thus offset the deficiency of talent.
A year ago, Poles gave up the power of the opposition in democratic elections (although not without force from Brussels and Berlin). Only naive people could presume that the “re-establishment” of the regulation of law would begin, but even gloomy realists did not anticipate specified open and brazen violations of it in the name of “a fighting democracy”.
On the another hand, the level of economical improvement seemed to be maintained. In the meantime, something unexpected and vague happened in the past year. There was a immense budget deficit, the state's treasury companies began to lose profits and then to lose money, thevatowska gap began to grow, large investments were stopped, from a country with an ambition to become the emerging power of Europe we became a country in a financial crisis.
How did this happen? We know the authoritative answer – PiS stole 100 billion and that is why there is no money, and president Duda harms as he can. We'll be fine erstwhile we've caught all the criminals and shut down the appropriate president system. Who else can believe it?
This amazing indolence can be explained by the fact that the ruling coalition is simply a bundle of many parties with very different ideological orientations. Everyone pulls in their own direction, satisfying hungry power and money activists. The main political force – Civic Coalition – has not had a program in years, has not taken any work on it while it was in opposition. At the end of the campaign, “100 concretes” were put together, collecting mechanical and populist demands circulating among their supporters.
What's more, an old squad has returned to governments. During the regulation of the Law and Justice, there was an influx of fresh people into the elite of power and higher positions in the state administration, in the state's companies. any of them advanced besides quickly, many did not know the value of money and lost their sense of reality. But the vast majority worked with enthusiasm. Now they're all wiped out. They were not replaced by new, young, but mostly veterans from the "first" and "second" period of Tusk. The resetters returned to services and abroad policy, to the ministries of the erstwhile notable. Aggregated, used, without the energy they had in 2007. They don't even want to play games and “harass” anymore. All that's left is hatred and instinct of the pack.
Pushed by the elite and his own resenty Tusk breathed a fresh life into “anti-development interest groups”, as Andrzej Zybertowicz called it years ago. They got a signal that now you can catch yourself again. The "ancien régime" restaurant is multi-dimensional – old ubeks have been restored to retirement privileges, scenes in Piłsudski Square, which take place all month, remind as live what happened before the Presidential Palace in 2010. There was besides a long-forgotten institution known from the times of the Polish People's Republic – reports on colleagues, neighbours and even relatives that they had reactionary views and connections.
At 1 time, we were right to complain about the carded television, which corresponded to the mentality and tastes of not so many "ordinary people", for whom cultural promotion was always important, as activists who were besides fluent in MBA courses and flattering the tastes of the imaginary people. But compared to what is now pouring out of the ether, the contents were then served to us subtle, intelligent, finesse.
One of my interlocutors, who had eaten bread from a number of ovens, expressed his amazement at the deficiency of constructive actions of the government: “They want to be elected for another term.” Or don't they? Their leader's goal is retaliation, nothing more. Donald Tusk has no another “idea for Poland”. In this respect he was and is completely honest. And possibly they don't have to? possibly there's no request to gain the favour of Poles. erstwhile the strategy closes, fear and monopoly of power are enough; if elections fail, they can be invalidated – like in Romania.
Those who disliked the regulation of the Law and maintained reason and conscience can see that there is no symmetry between the civilian Coalition and the Law and Justice. It is actual – and on 1 side, and on the another side, there are different people, better or worse, with flaws and advantages, but these 2 political formations, these 2 camps of Poles, are fundamentally different goals, the sense of political existence. any people want to build Poland on the measurement of the golden age, sometimes beyond their strength, others are ready to push it into the abyss.
Article originally published in Solidarity Week No 47/2024.
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