“By creating emotions, Donald Tusk relieves himself of responsibility for his words, he does not have to answer questions that are very inconvenient for him. He pacifies these questions with rhetorical figures. His anti-PiS is a race against other opposition parties for radicalism,” comments Prof. Mieczysław Ryba, historian from the Catholic University of Lublin.
wPolityce.pl: We have more statements from the leader of the civic platform during his meetings with voters in Silesia. How do you rate them in general?
Prof Mieczyslaw Ryba: Donald Tusk is aware of the number of voters in Silesia, hence his tour. He realizes that he is not strong there. The platform has a bad image in this area after previous conflicts with miners, and Tusk is trying to change this in any way possible to warm up this image. There are some program proposals in the background, while anti-PiS rhetoric and warming emotions are consistent, in the context of the death of Paweł Adamowicz and the suicide of the MP’s son, etc.
When one listens to these speeches and “conversations with Poles”, many questions arise. For example, if Tusk really knows what he’s doing when he meets people to insult them and their intelligence. He does so even when he is simply asked whether he will keep his election promises or when he is accused of being sure that the dam on the border with Belarus will never be built.
When Tusk argues with or even confronts the questioners, emotions naturally arise. These are not only between politicians, but also between voters. Creating emotions, Tusk relieves himself of responsibility for his words, he does not have to answer questions that bother him very much. He pacifies these questions with rhetorical figures. This is his method. In general, his method is to heat the political war of the PiS platformer to red.
To create some sort of PiS-PO duopoly?
And that there would be no room for other opposition parties to be elected by the anti-PiS voters. So that all this electorate gathered on the Civic Platform.
However, isn’t Tusk going crazy, if only in a situation where he swears that he never claimed that the wall on the Polish-Belarusian border will not be built? Another time, under anti-church rhetoric, he teaches that anyone who takes the Decalogue seriously and believes that God’s Providence supports the good cannot vote for PiS. Is this madness or cynicism?
Cynicism to the tenth power. It seems that the years in Brussels and the experience of the return have led Tusk to no longer care much about rationality or sanctity. This is also the case when, on the one hand, he advocates the freedom of abortion and, on the other, refers to the Decalogue, where we have the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” It seems like chaos, with many contradictions, but it is nothing more than arousing emotions that draw attention to PO at the expense of other opposition parties. Then the opposites do not interfere.
However, Tusk announced that he would give up PSL and Poland 2050 and resigned himself to the existence of this coalition.
However, it does not stop at calling for one list. He is mainly interested in Szymon Hołownia’s party to pluck him from the remnants he has left, because PSL has a stable electorate. Just because he says he won’t attack this coalition doesn’t mean he won’t attack.
In a recent interview for wPolityce.pl, Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski openly rebuked Tusk for his suggestions that violate the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Currently, it concerns the announcement of the resignation of Adam Glapiński from the position of NBP chairman and some judges of the Constitutional Tribunal. And before that there was also an announcement of the liquidation of public television channels that criticized Tusk.
It seems that there are two schools of thought in PSL: one closer to Kosiniak-Kamysz, one that is more explicit when it comes to the future alliance. The second, presented for example by Marek Sawicki, considers a possible alliance with the right and sees Tusk as a threat to PSL and other opposition entities. And this is reflected in several statements, such as that of Bartoszewski.
Tusk continues to insist that anti-PiS is the PO’s most positive program. So you still have nothing else to offer in your program?
The point is still the same: anti-PiS is a race against other opposition parties for radicalism. It must be said, however, that Tusk – regardless of their estimation – throws up various social ideas here and there, such as an apartment with 0 percent. credit, “grandmother”, a four-day workday or 20 percent. increases for everyone. We quickly forget these ideas after they are announced, if only because they seem totally incompatible with the liberal image of the PO.
Donald Tusk’s credibility in this regard is terribly low, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. The inflation of these ideas – where Tusk enters the field of PiS, which in turn has high credibility in this regard due to the programs implemented – is very high. He draws as much as he can. He tries everything.
I see a resemblance to Roman Giertych, who also nervously uploaded something new every day to test what worked. Because the situation of Donald Tusk is not happy either. It seemed that in the spring – when we have the peak of inflation, coal and gas price increases, the war in Ukraine – the polls will be more favorable to the PO. Yet that is not the case.
I also think that Tusk is afraid that eventually the PO’s media base will force Rafał Trzaskowski to lead, and not him. This is also the source of the nervous, from an objective point of view, movements, which in the background should end the competition on the opponent. This is how the latest poll of “Gazeta Wyborcza” shows what the intention behind this is.
It’s worth asking about the Confederacy. It is being talked about more and more, it goes up to 10 percent. poll support. Will it be the tip of the scale before the election?
So it can be. It doesn’t just assemble the strongly right-wing electorate. Two names of young activists stood out there: Bosak and Mentzen. They pushed Korwin-Mikke and Braun away from the media a bit. This is starting to appeal to the recent Hołownia electorate, which would be a new discovery, etc. Perhaps part of the former, liberal PO electorate, for example, will convince entrepreneurs who count on issues of greater economic freedom, not social transfers.
Something new in terms of image always attracts. While Hołownia, which sticks to PSL? What is its novelty? Tusk, who now becomes an economic socialist? I think small entrepreneurs who had hope in the Platform are already losing hope.
In my opinion, there is no coincidence in the Confederacy’s surprisingly good ratings. This trend can be quite constant.
Sławomir Mentzen will find supporters, he will drag the electorate with him when he declares that “Tusk can jump where Morawiecki can kiss him”?
The older, mature, experienced – of course not, it can even alienate them. However, young people – yes. Let’s not forget that this party targets the young electorate, users of Tik-Tok, smartphones, etc.
Please remember how eccentric in his statements was Paweł Kukiz, for example, who led this about a dozen percent of the electorate. His mistake was to stay with PSL and see what happened to him? The same goes for Hołownia – it loses on this connection. Since he is not anti-Tusk and is in the same electorate and ideology, he should show how much he is criticizing Tusk, not praising him. He praises that – it exhausts him, and he saves himself by joining the most established party, as in Poland. And Hołownia, which should have been the new Kukiz, only more to the left, goes out. That is not the case with the aforementioned Bosak and Mentzen – the same party. Same activists, just two new leaders addressing young people. This can be seen in the polls, especially among the male part of the younger generation, where these two have quite a lot of support.
The interviewer was Radoslaw Molenda
READ ALSO:
— A show of contempt for Tusk. The head of the PO heard an uncomfortable question: “If you believe more in Glapiński, Kaczyński…”
— Tusk calls on opposition parties to compete with the Confederacy. And it is striking: it is extremely anti-European and anti-Semitic
— The PO leader accuses PiS of collaborating with the Confederacy. Mentzen’s peculiar answer: Tusk can jump where Morawiecki can kiss
“Total disgrace!” Donald Tusk caught in a lie. PO leader: “I never said the wall wouldn’t be built.” And what was it actually like?
— OUR INTERVIEW. Bartoszewski to Tusk: We cannot start rule by violating the constitution, firing judges of the Constitutional Tribunal and the president of the NBP
— Tusk calls on opposition parties to compete with the Confederacy. And it is striking: it is extremely anti-European and anti-Semitic
— Tusk still plays “theologian.” “You’re Catholic, do you understand Jesus? You can’t vote for PiS or the Confederation”; “For God’s Love”
Source: wPolityce