A Digest of Political, Economic, Cultural and Historical News from Poland

Published: October 24, 2015

 

During the pre-electoral event in Warsaw’s district of Targówek Jarosław Kaczyński spoke to the local electorate. Below is the full content of his speech:

 

Ladies and gentlemen, moments earlier, you have just been presented with a list of the Law and Justice candidates to the Sejm and Senate. We can say that these candidates constitute a very strong team indeed. They represent a true variety of experts; distinguished politicians, social activists, people of all professions, including experts in medicine, economy and law; film directors, actors, singers. You may question the purpose of this list; you may ask why these excellent individuals head for the Parliament, and why they do their best to win at least half of the parliamentary seats for the Law and Justice party.

 

The road ahead is clear and its destination is more than just a mandate. We aim higher; we want to change Poland. We want to improve Poland to enable our entire nation to make use of its full potential, so that we can move forward and eliminate the divisions between us and our western neighbors. Our ultimate goal is strong and successful Poland!

 

There are challenges along the way, among them, the first one approaching on 25 October. Only a majority win will give us a chance to reach our goal and make a profound change. Coalitions have failed. Thus far, no one succeeded in winning the majority, but we must succeed! All of us gathered here, ladies and gentlemen, must believe that we can succeed!

 

We must succeed in order to take the first step to reform Poland, so that we seize opportunities waiting for us beyond the Polish borders. The first step is to establish a government, strong in its foundation and strong in its constitution. Government that will be strengthened by its cooperation with the President, but that will also remain open to others. The Law and Justice party understands that democracy requires the presence of opposition. We are prepared not only to tolerate the opposition, but to respect it as well. The role of the opposition is important and we must facilitate it. Our majority will aim at introducing the rules of democracy into the Sejm. Those rules will secure rights for the opposition. (…) Our aim to govern is not motivated by revenge or getting even. Our aim is to do whatever necessary, so that the energy of the Polish nation can be utilized. It has to begin with rebuilding our country, so that it becomes an instrument in the hands of our nation. Our country is the instrument in our hands. This instrument must serve our entire nation. It must not be used for the advantage of the privileged, lobby groups or schemes, which unfortunately happens today. We must be able to change it.

 

Such a change will bring a number of institutional reforms. We will begin with executive bodies and end with judiciary authorities. We have those reforms planned and prepared. We must also change the general approach by setting an example and being the first to follow it. This specific governing style currently followed in our country has been the modus operandi for the last 25 years in Poland and has proven to be disastrous for the Polish nation. Nothing is planned; there are no aims, just schemes and political transactions.

 

How can we gain the trust of the nation? How can we convince the nation that we aim at a different, better government? We need to keep our promises. The promises already made, such as 500 PLN per child, such as bringing the retirement age back down to what it used to be, increasing the tax-free income threshold, or resolving the issue of the school entrance age. These are promises made by Andrzej Duda and Beata Szydło. We must fulfil these promises as our first step to make the Polish nation believe in us!

 

We will struggle without the trust, because the change is a difficult process that will meet opposition. We need this social support, so we can make those changes for the sake of our country, and so that we can fulfil our great plans for the sake of our community. These plans involve boosting our economy, which develops, according to some claims. However, ladies and gentlemen, it develops at a pace too slow and below our capabilities. We have inactive potential in Poland, which lies in the entrepreneurship of the Polish people.

 

Many Polish assets remain inactive or misused, including intellectual assets. We heard some people mock us and what we say. However, ladies and gentlemen, we can make the Polish economy more dynamic by injecting it with 1 trillion and 400 billion PLN. Economically, though, such an action has no sense, until we introduce a social change by stimulating the demand. Considering the economic standards and our gross domestic product measure, we, the Polish people, do not earn enough.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the decrease in Polish wages has gone too far and has become damaging for Polish people. We must and we will change it. Our very first promises mean an increase of 40 billion PLN for Polish citizens. Such increase will bring not only more demand, but also more justice. Poland needs justice, because it needs solidarity and justice is a foundation of solidarity. Solidarity cannot exist without justice.

 

We must unite as a nation. Unity is a state of awareness, but it also needs to reflect on the real aspects of life, such as fair distribution of goods and the equality of rights. Such equality does not exist in today’s Poland, and there is no justified distribution of goods. We know that the distribution of goods cannot be equal at all times, but it must be justified by appropriate norms. We must remember that unity exists when everyone can rely on support in good times as well as in the times of hardship. We must build this unity.

 

Unity means also a strong identity with the nation, as well as confidence and pride in being Polish. Our pride has been degraded for over 20 years; we were taught to be ashamed; our image was discredited outside our borders; we fell victim to slanders. We can and we will stand up against this phenomenon in Poland, by changing our education programs and introducing new cultural values, but we will also stand up on the international and global scene. We must want to defend our pride and dignity in order to be what we ought to be – a great European nation!

 

Unity is also our health service. (...) We can make it better if we change the way of thinking. The health service must be about treating patients, not just providing a paid service. Doctors have a duty to treat patients. Although money is a part of such treatment, it must remain a secondary factor, because the health service must put patients’ interests first.

 

Major changes are required in the education – we need to raise our behavioral standards; we need to instill the essential sense of identity. We cannot succeed without our identity and we learnt that from other countries’ experience. Those that succeeded have built strong unity, whereas our unity has been consistently destroyed over the last 20 years. This is a valid issue and we need a major change. (…) The role of schooling in the lives of citizens needs to change. This is the only way to our success.

 

There is one more question to answer when we form the government. What I mean here is the diversity on the electoral list. Let’s ask about our plans regarding the government on a wide scale. (…) You may, ladies and gentlemen, wonder whether we are prepared, whether we have the right people. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have a group of people who are prepared and who will act fairly and honorably!

 

We can provide one more guarantee that Poland is about to experience the time of integrity. This guarantee is Mariusz Kamiński, who has been acting for the benefit of our country since young age and who has considerable achievements. Those achievements and what he plans to achieve if we win is our guarantee. We know that our actions must be based on trust, but we must also make the nation aware that we are serious about the equality of rights. The equality that was present in the years from 2005 to 2007. Our opponents cannot understand it, it is beyond them. Therefore, they suspect our aims are political. (…) we will fight for the integrity of Poland and the Polish government, for only fairness can bring us strength and success.

 

It is a lie that we plan to leave the European Union – we want to be a part of it and move forward within it. (…) Our government will fulfil this duty and we will let no one in the EU indicate what path we should take; we will plan and we are planning already our actions that will lead us our goal – great, strong and successful Poland.