As a Canadian, this exposes (not that it takes much to do so) the myth of liberal “democracy.” It’s not a system of popular rule, it’s a system of cleverly positioned false compromises and manufactured positions, in order to ensure that the people believe that they are being ruled by their own consent, while at the same time actually denying the people of their actual demands and most vital needs. It’s perhaps the biggest scam in history.
Exactly, it’s amazing how fast the mask falls off when liberals find themselves at odds with popular public opinion. All of a sudden, they start claiming that what you really need is the rule of an enlightened elite.
When you do what a few rich assholes want, it’s “good policies”, when you do something the majority need it’s “populism”.
Ain’t no way this man is named Donald Tusk.
Interestingly enough, his surname is from Kaszub language and means “mongrel”, as in dog.
It’s an insult to dogs to be compared to him tbh
True, but consider that in Poland, cops are called dogs, not pigs (and also “mendy” - crab lice).
At first I was sure someone messed up Trump’s name
tl;dr: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Tusk last month: “we will need to make up for lost time.”
The lost time: between 1945 and now.
@PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml please chime in
About populism vs democracy, after 34 years of austerity and other neoliberal dogma, definition of “democracy” in Poland is literally “neoliberalism”, so anything that breaks it, even such idiotic moves as PiS rightwing populism is percieved as fundamental danger.
Though the entire shitfest is mostly bullshit and public show. Thing is, before 2015 both PiS and PO were de facto two wings of the same neoliberal party (and direct continuation of the same in case of their predecessors AWS and UW), they enchanged members, and had similar everything, they didn’t even fight too much and were commonly and aptly called “POPiS” (which also means “show” in Polish) because they were so close. Of course this was the de facto two-party system, not unlike in USA but with minor parties needed as adds.
PiS broke that deal in 2015 and grabbed everything they can, so PO is now dealing them the same. Problem is, those two parties are still fundamentally just two wings of neoliberal establishment and expect very little change in internal politics, at best returning to 2015 status, and absolutely nothing in foreign politics. Both sides also need themselves to keep their sweet status quo, so those arrested ministers are basically scapegoats.
A lot of public affairs, yelling, mindboggling stunts and affairs to be expected while a new pecking order is established.
Real change might come when Jarosław Kaczyński dies or retires, and PiS might tore itself down, but still i think it would be only real change for PiS and not for Poland.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The returning veteran of Polish centrism, who formed a coalition government after an impressive election result last year, has surprised critics and even many supporters with a confrontational approach towards Law and Justice (PiS), the populist group he defeated.
This time, Tusk has moved “as quickly and decisively as possible” in tackling the gargantuan task of undoing PiS’ illiberal and far-reaching changes to the Polish state – an agenda he and his supporters say will restore Poland’s democratic institutions.
PiS protected its changes to the state by stuffing legal and decision-making bodies with loyalists, and the PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda is expected to block legislative attempts to undo those reforms.
Tusk fanned the flames of Poland’s societal divide with his early moves on public television – an “egg-breaking” approach to restoring democracy that critics say mirrors the methods of his populist rivals.
The agency is widely dismissed as an effort by PiS to cement its influence over public media while creating the semblance of independence in how it is governed; but its creation was nonetheless codified in law, so to dismantle it would require Duda’s sign-off.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at a joint news conference with Tusk last month: “I welcome your commitment to put the rule of law at the top of your government’s agenda… we will need to make up for lost time.”
The original article contains 1,635 words, the summary contains 230 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
