- Today, meetings of the PO board and the parliamentary club of the Civic Coalition will be held
- Among the topics is the choice of the new club boss, who is still Borys Budka
- Our interlocutors argue that Cezary Tomczyk may not be the only candidate. Grzegorz Schetyna is to strive for this
Hard Talk
The building of “Bank Polski” at ul. Bielańska in Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising was the insurgent redoubt. Heavy fights took place there. After the war, most of the building was demolished. Now it is a popular place for events and all kinds of meetings.
Today the parliamentary club of the Civic Coalition will meet in Reduta Bank. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place on September 7 and 8 in Lidzbark Warmiński, but was canceled. Some MPs were against going to the four-star hotel, which Onet reported As first.
Time for KO is difficult and the situation inside is tense. In the largest opposition party, a power struggle is underway between the supporters of Boris Budka and Grzegorz Schetyna.
In addition, there is also the unclear situation surrounding the “New Solidarity” movement by Rafał Trzaskowski, which has still not started two months after the elections.
Onet’s information shows that the president of Warsaw will appear at the club’s meeting today. It will explain to KO parliamentarians its vision of the movement, which on the one hand is to be a non-competitive body against the Platform, and on the other, it is to present political initiatives in the form of bills.
Some Members say backstage that it is squaring a circle which they do not understand.
However, the presence of Trzaskowski at the meeting may also be related to the election of a new club chairman. Since last fall, it has been Borys Budka, who combined this function with party leadership.
After a mishap with a vote on pay rises for MPs, senators and top officials in the country, it became clear that this arrangement was dysfunctional.
Tomczyk is a liaison with Trzaskowski
As “Newsweek” informed a few days ago, Budka’s candidate for this position will probably be Cezary Tomczyk. Although he is only 36 years old, today he belongs to the most experienced parliamentarians of the Civic Coalition.
He became an MP in 2007 as a 23-year-old and since then, he has won a seat at Wiejska Street. He set out to broader political waters as a spokesman for Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz.
In recent years associated with Rafał Trzaskowski, he was the informal head of his recent presidential campaign. He also supported Budka a year ago, when he was fighting for the party leadership.
Tomczyk himself does not comment on the news of “Newsweek”, although some PO politicians have already supported him on Twitter: Jacek Protas, Bogdan Zdrojewski and Krzysztof Truskolaski.
Our interlocutors say that Tomczyk is conducting intensive consultations on his possible start. I want, among others count those who can give him victory in the competition to manage the activities of deputies and senators.
It is uncertain whether he will have a rival. If so, who will it be? So far, Tomasz Siemoniak and Sławomir Neumann have expressed their willingness to start, but it may turn out that one more candidacy will appear. – Grzegorz Schetyna is working intensively on it – we hear from a member of the Civic Coalition.
However, it is not about Schetyna’s start, but about a man who will realistically fight for victory. Siemoniak and Neumann are considered people close to him. But perhaps some “third” will reconcile them.
– Schetyna is a patriot of the Platform – tells us a PO politician who is close to him.
However, the former head of the party is accused by supporters of the party’s current leadership of “wobbling the boat” and of trying to take advantage of the crisis in which KO found itself after voting on the bill on raises. Schetyna then toured the media, criticizing Budka for his mistakes.
The fact is that the PO chairman first recommended voting for the bill brought by PiS, and a few days later, in the face of criticism, he changed his mind and encouraged the Senate majority to throw the document into the bin.
Interestingly, today some PO politicians have a grudge against Budka.
– It was a mistake to withdraw from voting on increases. The change of mind after a few days was much worse than just supporting the bill. You just had to “stop”. Please take a look at the polls before this whole – let’s call it – scandal, now. There is no difference, it did not matter – says the KO MP.
A surprise is possible
However, such voices are a minority. Most often, complaints against Budka concern rather disastrous communication, and often simply imposing opinions without deeper reflection.
– There is practically no discussion at the club’s meetings about anything other than the current laws – one of the KO deputies tells me.
– So what are these meetings like? – we ask.
– We are discussing further projects. We hear what the club’s position is to be. There are some individual votes for and against, but that’s it. I don’t remember any long debate on ideological or programmatic matters, discussing some broader perspective – we hear.
If Cezary Tomczyk receives a recommendation from the party’s management, he will theoretically have an open path to victory. Unlike a possible candidate from inside the club, he will not have to collect 60 signatures to compete.
This is a difficult task, although of course nothing is excluded. Anyway, such stories have already happened in the Platform.
In 2006, the election in the club was won by Bogdan Zdrojewski, who defeated Zbigniew Chlebowski, supported by Donald Tusk. In 2015, Ewa Kopacz, in turn, lost to Sławomir Neumann as the head of the PO.
Now, Arkadiusz Myrcha’s candidacy has appeared in the media (including Gazeta Wyborcza), although our information shows that this scenario is not very realistic. Several of our interlocutors mentioned the possible start of Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska.
– Boris Budka’s candidate will win. His voice is still decisive – we hear from a politician from the environment of the PO leadership.
Just a few weeks ago, Budka was supposed to be ready to bet on Jan Grabie or Robert Kropiwnicki.
Today, number one is Cezary Tomczyk. It is known that Rafał Trzaskowski is also supporting. Anyway, the idea of this candidacy is to show that the “New Solidarity” movement will not be an initiative in opposition to the party, but closely related to it.
How to reconcile party factions?
The new chairman of the club faces a difficult task of integrating a fairly diverse group of parliamentarians. On the one hand, they are Budka’s supporters, and on the other, those who support Schetyna. There are conservatives, but also representatives of the coalition partners, i.e. the people of Barbara Nowacka, Nowoczesna and Zieloni.
There are experienced MPs, but also expressive novices, such as Franek Sterczewski and Klaudia Jachira, who are close to the left.
The club also includes senators who, together with the Left and the PSL, form the majority in the upper house of parliament. The election of the head of the senate group is currently underway.
Marcin Bosacki (closer to Schetyna) and Bogdan Zdrojewski are running. The matter will be settled at the end of September, but so far the competition is fairly even.
However, the vision of the work of parliamentarians from the largest opposition bloc for the next three years, during which there will be no elections, is of key importance. And if so, it means that the biggest battles will be in parliament.
PiS announces unofficially radical changes in the courts, media and local governments, which heralds another turbulent term of office.
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