OUR INTERVIEW. prof. Jabłoński: Hołownia is trying to regain its lost position. During the march he was treated as a non-existent person

“Szymon Hołownia tries to regain the lost position due to his presence in the march organized by the Civic Platform, where he was correctly treated as a non-existent person, possibly – completely subservient to the intentions of this party, even if he did does not want to participate in one election list,” he tells the portal wPolityce.pl .pl Prof. Arkadiusz Jabłoński, sociologist from the KUL.

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wPolityce.pl: How would you react to the attack on Szymon Hołownia after he invited not only the opposition – including the somewhat marginalized Confederation – but also the ruling Law and Justice to discuss education spending?

Prof. Arkadiusz Jablonski: Szymon Hołownia is trying to regain the lost position due to his presence in the march organized by the Civic Platform, where he was correctly treated as a non-existent person, or possibly – completely subordinate to the intentions of this party, even if he did not want to participate on the same election list.

So he builds a particular narrative, finds an area of ​​negotiation, in this case education, which for various reasons, through various types of media campaigns, is constantly presented as a problem to be solved, and also expands the group of those who would debate the form of Polish education – about Confederation, and even for Law and Justice. In this way, the leader of Poland2050 wants to gain a certain position of a person who tries to unite, but is above political division.

This is a new version of the “Third Way”, the image of which he formulated with Kosiniak-Kamysz. The fact that it will be hated, he has already experienced by appearing on the march, where it was enough that he did not want to be on the joint list, and he was described by PiS opponents as a person who has the opportunity to defeat the opposition unite destroys .

PO leader Donald Tusk took to Twitter to speak out harshly about inviting Law and Justice to the debate, writing that only “conditions of capitulation” can be negotiated with PiS, and talks about the future should only be held ” in the circle of patriots”.

I think Donald Tusk took advantage of this media ferment after the June 4 march. This event has even been compared to gatherings during papal visits. There were also various expressions, for example, that it was a manifestation of such patriotism. because during this march white and red flags appeared and that the whole event had such poetics of the patriotic movement.

The PO leader decided to take advantage of this, naturally treating political opponents as enemies who should be forced to capitulate and possibly negotiated.

This is the direction of radicalization and some increase in polarization between the government and the opposition. And any gesture that attempts to do anything beyond partisan divisions is unacceptable from his point of view. I think Hołownia sees these falling pillars and somehow tries to rebuild it, bounce back, win back a position of at least a person who will be present in the media as the initiator of one or other project.

What remains today for the opposition of this initial post-march enthusiasm?

Everyone knew very well that Mr. Hołownia’s movement had a formula that stemmed from the period when, through his media recognition, he built a formation that wanted to change something. At that time, everyone emphasized that the farther into the forest, the more trees, that such a formation, without organizational structures, an unambiguous program, would have many problems in a real political clash.

Well, Hołownia tried to deal with these problems, of course with PSL, which has other difficulties, but it has organizational structures. It seemed that something interesting could come out of this marriage, but from the beginning it was also known that the voters of both formations are so different from each other, a certain narrative voice, more conservative, on the side of PSL, that it’s impossible to make a synthesis, that would be convincing. The Civic Platform does not give any prospects for survival, nor is what Poland 2050 proposes a particularly interesting alternative for anyone who now looks at the ruling party and sees that these proposals are a more interesting way of tackling the problems that Poland now faces.

To what extent this march, and now making such statements that PiS can only negotiate the terms of capitulation, really strengthen this radical language, the PO and Tusk, and to what extent they strengthen the PO and its toughest constituents in an attitude bordering on a certain “sectarianism” “?

I think this is definitely a kind of strengthening of Donald Tusk in his own political formation in a situation where there were serious voices, not only in the opposition, but even in his own party, looking for alternative leadership – for example in the form of Mr. Rafał Trzaskowski.

However, the leader of the PO managed, at least for some time, to show unequivocally that his vote is politically significant and that 100,000 people can come to his call. supporters of the Civic Platform. This was successful, so Mr. Donald Tusk can be described as a master of events.

It is already announcing more events, but it seems that it is not enough for electoral fuel. Probably even the most ardent PO supporters would like to hear a sensible programmatic message, moreover an oath limited to victory, settling scores or correcting mistakes. All those rally slogans that don’t translate into concrete actions. So if you’re talking about a “sectarian” strengthening of the PO, maybe it could be called that.

And what does all this mean for PiS? Does the ruling party have anything to fear after recent events?

Like any political party, PiS has someone to lose to, and that’s obvious. There were many problems that Law and Justice had to solve during their reign, and despite addressing most of them with relative efficiency, the public still believes that apart from its splendor, this reign also has its shadows.

If anyone could formulate an alternative that could introduce a new governance formula, that would be a challenge that PiS faces. The fact that the PO leader gathers a large number of people on the march is only a testament to the PO’s organizational efficiency, but does not yet pose a threat, especially in a situation where support after eight years of rule is at about 35 percent, which none of the hitherto prevailing formations in Poland has managed to do.

So you can use this capital during these months leading up to the election to build support and I think PiS’s actions will move in that direction.

Thank you very much for the interview.

READ ALSO:

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