Law and Justice (PiS) party chairman Jarosław Kaczyński had some harsh words for the current Donald Tusk-led government, especially in light of the recent flooding that devastated many towns.
“This year’s flooding has brutally demonstrated the incompetence of the current government camp,” he told Sieci weekly, noting the financial distributions quickly launched by the PiS government during the pandemic.
“We propose funds to fully compensate for losses, following the example of the distributions. We were able to do this despite severe crises, pandemics, war, inflation. We helped society, and in the end, we left the country with lower debt than we found it, with accelerated investments, with solid social programs.”
“All these eight years were in a way distorted by their propaganda, but this does not change the essence: It was a very good period for Poland and Poles. Citizens had the feeling that everything was moving forward, developing and new perspectives were constantly emerging. Today, it is completely the opposite. Therefore, an objective assessment of our governments would see it at a very high level,” Kaczyński said.
Asked about what actions are needed to counter how the current government is ruining the state and its institutions, the PiS leader indicated that a new constitution will be needed.
“When the government changes, and I deeply believe that it will, it will be necessary to create a system that will not be so easy to undermine. The constitution adopted in 1997 has fallen and a new constitution needs to be adopted by a new parliament, provided that there is a democratic and independent majority in it,“ he said.
“Today, there is a void, and the current constitution has simply failed, it has proven to be so weak, so devoid of real security structures, that something new must take its place,” Kaczyński concluded.
Still, some have been highly critical of the PiS for lack of action during the party’s rule, specifically pointing fingers at Kaczyński for missed opportunities, overly propagandized campaigns, and a reluctance to attract the youth vote — or even elevate their own younger members within the party. Others have flat-out said the party managed to achieve nothing concrete during its time in power.
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Some have even openly accused Kaczyński of mishandling the party’s coffers. In early September, in an interview with Polsat News, Marcin Mastalerek, head of President Duda’s cabinet, asked why he should personally donate any money to PiS. “Why should I pay? Law and Justice has received huge amounts of money from the state budget over the last few years. They should have at least PLN 100 million saved in their account,” he said, then directly asking “Where is this money?”
Duda’s cabinet head then went on to further express his disappointment in Kaczyński himself.
“Such maneuvers as with the National Electoral Commission taking money away from the largest opposition party are straight from Putin’s Russia. But today, PO politicians can behave like this thanks to Jarosław Kaczyński, because he changed the law in 2018 — and he can only blame himself,” Mastalerek said.
Just a few months ago, Remix News reported that the PiS leader was furious that the people he had chosen to top the slates in the European Parliamentary election had in many cases lost out to younger PiS members associated with former PiS Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
