Mugs with “together” signs for quarreling politicians and harsh election campaign rules at public TVP.
Dziennik writes on how public television journalists and reporters are being used to forge the election success of Libertas, the party of Euro skeptics which has just entered the Polish political scene.
The daily claims that TVP has become a highly efficient machine for promoting the Libertas election committee thanks to the public broadcaster’s chief exec Piotr Farfal, who hails from political quarters now closely associated with the Polish chapter of Declan Ganley’s party. The method of popularizing Libertas among wide audiences is simple: every item on the current election campaign to the European Parliament aired by TVP must contain mandatory mention of the party.
Disciplinary action has been announced with regard to any offenders breaking the rule. The legal grounds for such actions is a decree from the State Electoral Commission guaranteeing equal access and presentation in public media to all election committees.
Chaos before the June 4th celebrations
‘Chaos before June 4th,’ headlines Rzeczpospolita in a front page article referring to planned gala celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Poland’s first post-war democratic elections. Last week, PM Donald Tusk made the decision to move the main political gatherings from Gdansk to Krakow after Solidarity threatened to disrupt them with violent protests. The unionists then softened their stand, but the government did not retract its position.
Though the ceremonies are barely three weeks away, there is no fixed schedule of official events. Neither has a number of basic formalities been taken care of, such as hotel reservations for numerous invited guests, including foreign delegations.
The European Solidarity Center, which is the main organizer of the June 4th anniversary celebrations, has reserved 25 million zloty (roughly 5.5 million euro) for the purpose, so money shouldn’t be an issue. Sources point to problems with coordinating the preparations as work on them has been divided among several non-related institutions. The sudden decision of shifting the main accents from coastal Gdansk in the north to southern Krakow has only added to confusion on certain matters and made the atmosphere more hectic, writes the daily.
Really razem?
Devoting attention to the same 20th anniversary of the first free elections in post-war Poland, Gazeta Wyborcza looks at the upcoming celebrations through the prism of various political quarrels and outright feuds accompanying the preparations. As an example worth following, the newspaper reports on the initiative of some one hundred NGOs united in a coalition under the name Razem’89.
Razem, meaning “together” in Polish, stands in perfect opposition to what many politicians have been instrumental in creating among groups of society. One of the coalition’s first actions has been presenting top state officials and political leaders with special anniversary mugs with the Razem’89 logo. The idea is to hold debates over coffee or tea with the symbolic mugs in hand as a reminder that far more can be achieved with an emphasis on unity, rather than turning back on each other, or hurling invectives. “I’m happy with my present,” said PM Donald Tusk.
Government to help the poor
Family allowances will be higher, exclaims the tabloid Super Express. The good news for millions of Poles is that the sums received are to increase significantly, even up to 40 percent in the case of those poorest. The government has decided on the move primarily to help low income families and single parents or guardians who have considerable problems supporting their children.
The scheme is expected to launch in November and will benefit over 3 million children. Though marking a definite step forward in alleviating the plight of the most needy, the new financial assistance program still did not encompass many areas where such state aid would be greatly desired, for instance in helping children at boarding schools outside their place of permanent residence. (ss/mmj)