Liberal journalist Tomasz Lis has demanded that the government resign due to not succeeding against the coronavirus pandemic. His words are not a surprise, as Lis is the head editor of the Polish Newsweek magazine and is one of the Untied Right’s greatest opponents.
If Law and Justice (PiS) was removed from power would any other party be able to do more against the pandemic than PiS?
I think not.
One thing must be stated — we all knew that a second wave of infections was coming. We also all had enough of the lockdown from six months ago. Everyone wanted to return to their normal lives and leave their homes — not just in Poland, but everywhere around the world.
And so we left our homes believing that the worst was behind us and wanting to learn to live with the virus. We traveled around for our holidays and ignored masks and social distancing — not just in Poland, but everywhere.
This could have ended in only one way and so it did. But there was no other way.
Even those who proudly announced victory over the virus, like the Slovenians, reported record high infection rates in September. We have returned to the beginning, and for some it is even worse.
Have we reached for new methods when fighting the return of the pandemic? No, we are using the same measures except that no one is shutting down the economy again. No one has come up with a revolutionary method to fight the pandemic and everyone is eagerly awaiting a cure or vaccine.
Can more be done than the Polish government has already achieved?
It is hard to find a new method in the world despite the criticism from Civic Platform (PO) MPs. We have already done the only possible strategy through lockdowns, and it will not be used again. We are left with masks, social distancing and disinfection methods. We should also use common sense and not give into panic.
No one throughout the world has come up with a new idea to beat the pandemic. Even Sweden, which was praised for its approach to achieving herd immunity, has recorded the highest growth of infections since June just three days ago.
If the opposition does indeed have a different strategy for fighting the pandemic, then it should present it. We are talking about human lives, after all. Instead, it is focusing only on criticism. The opposition should abandon its so-called fears of sharing their ideas out of concern of them being “stolen” by PiS.
In a situation when human lives are on the line, narrow party interests should be put aside.
What is your plan to fight the pandemic, dear opposition? Don’t give us broad politicized statements — we need specifics.
