When the crowd of protesters supporting Donald Trump broke into the United Staters Capitol, and the first shots were fired, Polish opposition MP Tomasz Trela, who is the former deputy mayor of Łódź and current representative of the Left parliamentary club, called on Twitter for opposition supporters to “enter” Polish President Andrzej Duda’s headquarters. “Let’s go!” the opposition MP urged. Trela, under pressure from criticism from social media users, quickly deleted his post. Howver, the Twitter accounts of Polish opposition politicians were flooded with similar posts which suggested that the events from the United States may also play out in Poland if the currently ruling United Right loses elections and will not want to give up power.
This political narrative of the liberal-left opposition stinks of hypocrisy — and not for the first time. A similar narrative appeared among these same politicians and the media supporting them in fall 2010 when a former Civic Platform (PO) member, Ryszard Cyba, broke into a Law and Justice’s (PiS) MP office in Łódź and murdered PiS activist Marek Rosiak. “I wanted to kill Kaczyński, but my weapon was too small,” the killer proclaimed back then. Shortly after this event, some politicians of the then ruling liberal PO and like-minded journalists argued that the blame for this political crime lay with Jarosław Kaczyński and PiS who, in their opinion, had “spread hatred in society”. Facts claim otherwise, however. To contest the actions of any government, including through street protests, is a natural right in a democracy. Yet, only after 2015 — when the previously ruling liberal-left groups had to give up power to Law and Justice — were election results questioned by media outlets still in the hands of those left-liberal groups in an attempt to call the entire integrity of the election into question. The aim to regain power through street confrontations was also initiated at that time.
The last six years in Poland have seen the undermining of democratic elections through every possible method, including forceful attempts to lead to the collapse of the democratically elected ruling government. “This is the end of democracy,” the liberal media roared when they were cut from public funds coming from state-owned companies. AP Images In December 2016, a group of Civic Platform politicians took over and occupied the buildings of the Polish Parliament for several days. The most outrageous event took place in December 2016 when a crowd of protesters, at the behest of opposition activists, tried to attack parliament. Journalists and publicists close to the opposition had spoken of conducting a Polish Maidan similar to the one which took place in Ukraine. A group of PO politicians took over and occupied the buildings of parliament for several days. During the critical night, the MPs of the United Right were humiliated and attacked by the supporters of the liberal-left opposition as they were leaving parliament. Also in December 2016, the then PiS minister of education, Anna Zalewska, was attacked by a group of pro-opposition supporters during her visit to Jelenia Góra in western Poland. To save herself, she had to run away to her car.
After the dramatic events which took place in the American Capitol, the politicians of the Polish opposition along with liberal-left publicists are united in trying to convince us that comparing that event to those in Poland is unjustified. This is nonsense. What has happened in the United States should be a very painful lesson and warning to others of the danger of being unwilling to accept the results of democratic elections and of the danger of infecting society with an absurd narrative about supposed breaking of civic laws and democratic rules. During Donald Trump’s entire term, his opponents, including the media, questioned the right of the American president to construct American reality in accordance with the expectations of his voters. The liberal-left elites in the US did everything to overthrow the elected president. On the other hand, after Trump himself lost he called for a rebellion and the rejection of the decision of voters, which led to escalation of acts of violence. In the last six years in Poland we have been dealing with not only anti-government protests but also with the spreading hatred and disdain towards those who are associated with or support the ruling center-right in Poland. The analogy to the Polish reality is more than obvious. In the last six years in Poland we have been dealing with not only anti-government protests, which I underline is the holy right of democracy, but also with the spreading hatred and disdain towards those who are associated with or support the ruling center-right in Poland. The result of this propaganda of hatred and disdain in which media and celebrities have participated, were the attacks on the MP offices of the representatives of the United Right. Examples include the MP office of Minister Beata Kempa in Syców being set on fire in December 2019.
In May 2020, an unknown perpetrator opened fire on the MP office of PiS MP Jan Mosiński in Leszno. In October 2020, the supporters of the opposition in Gdynia tore apart the doors to Marcin Horała’s MP office. The emotions which have erupted in the US have shown the consequences of questioning the result of democratic elections and the stoking of social animosities and political hatred motivated by unbridled lust for power. This should be a very serious warning for activists whose goals are street confrontations and attempts to take over power using methods other than casting a ballot. It is also a warning for PO politicians who state in interviews, such as PO leader Borys Budka, who told journalists that “voters demand that I should sign a contract in blood holding PiS to account” or PO MP Jerzy Borowczak’s comment that “retaliation is unavoidable. Blood may be spilled.” Will the American debacle become a warning for those politicians— who in the name of fighting for a return to positions of power do not hesitate to stoke social emotions to their limits? Will it change the opinion of the liberal commentators and journalists who support them? It is doubtful. After all, they suffer from a dangerous, anti-democratic ailment — an unbridled lust for power.
