{"id":42714,"date":"2020-07-06T23:37:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T05:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forum-polonia-houston.com\/?p=42714"},"modified":"2020-07-15T01:38:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T07:38:28","slug":"i-am-not-casting-my-vote-for-the-incumbent-president-of-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/?p=42714","title":{"rendered":"I am not casting my vote for the incumbent President of Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Forum Polonia Houston<\/strong> website is a politically neutral platform<\/strong>,\n which neither supports nor opposes the political opinion expressed in \nthe article below.  It is a private opinion of the author. \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Zbigniew Wojciechowski<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not casting my vote\nfor the incumbent President of Poland<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next Sunday Poles will vote\nin a hybrid election to choose who will occupy the Presidential Palace in\nWarsaw for the next 5 years. There are two candidates left, the incumbent\nPresident Andrzej Duda and the challenger, present mayor of the capital of\nPoland Rafa\u0142 Trzaskowski. Recent polls show a small advantage of the incumbent\nPresident but many believe all is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forum-polonia-houston.com<\/a> the portal of the Houston Polonia included this past weekend the article by Ewa Thompson: \u201cHow media coverage of Polish election shows the American media\u2019s incredible bias against conservatives\u201d which was published by the conservative online magazine americanthinker.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was not surprised by\nthe narrative Ewa Thompson used in the article, it is widely used throughout\nthe Law and Justice (PIS) propaganda outlets to promote President Andrzej Duda\nand discredit his opponent Rafa\u0142 Trzaskowski. In almost 40 years I have lived\nin America I have slowly become immune to the harsh language and all out fight\npolitical candidates endured for votes of constituents that would take them to\nthe Capitol Hill, the White House or the State level offices. Following closely\npolitical events in Poland I have not however accepted of both the form and the\nsubstance in the language used by parliamentarians, politicians and some media\ncommentators. First the hatred and second the divisiveness on the scale never\nseen before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It occurred to me that\nthe americanthinker.com<\/a> criteria for publication were the strong conservative views of the\nwriters never minding the facts. I am not saying all the publications fit that\ndescription, I am sure there are some, perhaps many that are based on well\nsupported facts and data, reliable information and accurate commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Unfortunately, the article by Ewa Thompson falls short of the latter description. It contains eloquently presented arguments shared by the members of the ruling party (PIS) in Poland in furious defense of the incumbent President in order to secure his re-election this coming Sunday. It is all out war and there are no rules of engagement. Anything that can tarnish the challenger Rafa\u0142 Trzaskowski is good regardless if it\u2019s an insinuation, gossip or a ruthless lie. No one has time to check the facts, the more outrageous accusations the better. No one is counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s check some facts and start from the second paragraph of the article, Ewa Thompson writes \u201cUnder Duda\u2019s leadership, Poland launched major investment programs\u201d and later \u201cDuda\u2019s government has improved the standard of living of the poorest citizens by giving families a $125 bonus\u201d,  really? Isn\u2019t  is stretching Duda\u2019s accomplishments too far. In his 32 legislative initiatives he never mentioned investments proposal to build a canal nor the mega-airport. These were initiatives of the Polish Government and Duda is not the head of the Polish Government. Giving Duda credit for 500+ is an absurd, it was Kaczy\u0144ski\u2019s idea implemented by Szyd\u0142o\u2019s Government. \u201cDuda substantially curbed corruption\u201d, another missed statement, the President of Poland does not have an executive power nor institution to carry on tax crime. It was the effort of the Ministry of Finance in the Szyd\u0142o and Morawiecki governments to curb VAT abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the claim that \u201cbillions\nof dollars left Poland annually\u201d Ewa Thompson copies insinuations by President\nDuda at his rallies, that so called \u201cVAT Gap\u201d was allowed to leave Poland under\nthe Civic Platform government. The actual numbers of the VAT gap are not that\ndifficult to find at the Internet. In the seven years of Civic Platform\ngovernment (2008-2015) the VAT Gap added up to approximately 270 billions of\nPolish z\u0142oty. During the same time Polish firms generated 71 – 74 % of GNP. One\nmay assume that 26-29% were international corporations, 79 billions z\u0142oty were allegedly\ndeposited in banks outside of Poland. 79 billion z\u0142oty that is $21 billions\ndivided by 7 years roughly 3 billion a year. International corporations enjoyed\nlower taxes, which must have been an incentive to do business in Poland and\nnegotiated by the government. The remaining VAT Gap money stayed in Poland. It\nwas a common practice then, to pay with cash for services, avoiding VAT or\nissue lower invoices with bilateral agreement, for the same reason. The extra\ncash (190 billion z\u0142oty) stayed home and was likely condoned as a driving\nvehicle for the Poland\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the Law and\nJustice party is providing Duda with all the credit, in the attempt to help him\nwin election. President Duda by law is not a member of the party, these are not\nhis initiatives nor his achievements. \nDuda\u2019s Constitutional duties include to defend the Polish Constitution\nand be a Commander in Chief of the Polish military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to\nTrzaskowski there is a coordinated effort to tarnish his character and\nreputation in the eyes of voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ewa Thompson writes: \u201cDuda\u2019s good looking opponent, Rafa\u0142 Trzaskowski, proved himself to be singularly inept manager. In 2019, Warsaw\u2019s sever system failed and untreated sewage poured directly to the Vistula\u201d. Trzaskowski is blamed by Duda\u2019s camp for something he had no control of, to show, he is not fit to be a President. The Sewer Treatment Plant \u201cCzajka\u201d, one of two in Warsaw and the largest in the Eastern Europe, it was build according to the design prepared in 1970s. After opening in early 1990s, it was already not up to the international standards. After Poland joined the EU the plant was rebuilt to comply with the EU standards and re-opened in 2012. In late August 2019 one of two pipelines under the Vistula River carrying the waste from the west part of the city cracked and started leaking. The choices Warsaw Council had were: to let it drain to the Vistula River or flood the city streets. Trzaskowski choose the lesser disaster. He then asked the Prime Minister Morawiecki for help (the corporations able to make such repairs were State owned). BTW according to the Polskie Wody website wody.gov.pl<\/a>, 100 km down the river from Warsaw in P\u0142ock concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and ChZTcr (the index of water contamination) never exceeded normal levels. There was the warning, however, all the way to the Baltic Sea not to use Vistula\u2019s water, swim or fish in the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Duda,\npersonally at his home may not be homophobic but he preaches all sorts of\nphobias including, homophobia, LGBT phobia, gender phobia. I don\u2019t understand\nhow anyone who lives in the United States, has accepted the US Constitution\n(when becoming US citizen) and abides the local law can sympathize with the\nbigotry in the country of origin, that is a deceiving virtue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duda vetoed a\nlegislation introduced by Polish parliament (Sejm) in 2016 which would allow\ngay people partnerships and now in the peak of his campaign he wants to write\ninto the Polish Constitution a ban for homosexual couples to adopt a child. It\nis rushed, to be presented before Sunday\u2019s elections, with an intend to show\nhis love of a family. Never mind same sex couples who already are raising\nchildren. If President Duda is not homophobic why doesn\u2019t he oppose so called\nFree of LGBT Zones established in communities where PIS has Council majorities.\nIt is his Constitutional duty to protect all the citizens of Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cherry on the cake\nis Ewa Thompson claim that over 5 million Poles that voted for Trzaskowski on\nJune 28 are descendants of the Communist Party members, collaborators and\ngrandchildren of the communist secret police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is cruel and\ndegrading to those who have a different point of view from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trzaskowski is for\nprogress, that is a true fact, but why to allege, he is to promote a \u201csexual\nliberation\u201d. Sorry I will not even comment here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives and\nliberals everywhere differ in their approach to the World and to life, on some\nissues the gap between them seems to be unbreachable. The liberals always opt\nand promote progress while the conservatives stick to traditions, radical\ninterpretation of religion and generally to the status quo. Progress however,\nas we learn from history continues to advance in science, technology, social\nlife and even in the religious life despite the opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives in Poland listen to Kaczy\u0144ski and his party rhetoric. They have unfortunately allowed themselves to have resurrected long buried antisemitism, bigotry, racial injustice and radical sentiments under the banners of tradition, family values and protection of the faith and the way of life. It is the Polish version of the Western conservatives opposition against the globalization and migration. Clever politicians of Polish United Right use a fear of demons (migrants, LGBT, western values, sexual revolution) strategy to build the society which is intolerant, radical in their beliefs and against social progress. Convincing arguments of their dedication to people are monetary incentives (with exception of 500+ program which was long overdue). This approach in my opinion, although socially acclaimed as a success, deprives people dependent on the State subsidies of ingenuity, ambition, enthusiasm and out of the box thinking to say at least. It locks women at home to serve family despite their aspirations. Monetary distribution programs complement the Government efforts to enhance economy by more spending power but in the long run makes the low income people totally dependent on the State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democracy, the best\ngoverning system to date, allows nations to be govern by representatives chosen\nduring general election. They are generally either conservatives or liberals.\nBut if any parliamentary majority, or individuals elected to the public office,\nregardless of the country, take their power too far, there is a regulatory\nmechanism for citizens to prevent the pendulum swinging too far to right or too\nfar to left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE NEXT ELECTIONS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not casting my\nballot to the incumbent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forum Polonia Houston website is a politically neutral platform, which neither supports nor opposes the political opinion expressed in the article below.  It is a private opinion of the author. Zbigniew Wojciechowski I am not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-2","category-past-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42714"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42756,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42714\/revisions\/42756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum-polonia-houston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}