In the wake of Karol Nawrocki’s election as President of Poland, former Minister of National Defense Jan Parys offers a sharp and unflinching assessment of the current political landscape.

In this exclusive interview with wPolityce.pl, Parys argues that Nawrocki’s presidency could mark a pivotal opportunity for a long-overdue political reset — but only if the ruling coalition, led by Donald Tusk, abandons its polarizing and, in his view, authoritarian instincts.

wPolityce.pl: What do you think the new presidency, i.e. Karol Nawrocki’s victory, means?

Jan Parys: It depends on who’s in charge. In my opinion, this is a good time for everyone on the political scene to reflect, to conduct a political reset. A new president is an opportunity for political parties to start anew, to embark on a new policy. It seems to me that the current situation is unsatisfactory for no one. Most citizens are waiting for a change.

What changes are we talking about?

The ruling coalition’s electorate is dissatisfied. This is evident not only in the presidential election results, in which the ruling coalition lost millions of voters. Opinion polls also indicate this. If parliamentary elections were held today, the Civic Platform would have no one to form a government with. Right-wing supporters, on the other hand, are also dissatisfied, as they have no influence on the course of events and believe that the achievements of the Law and Justice party’s eight years in power are being wasted.

Donald Tusk’s position is clearly weakening. Why?

Tusk got involved in the election campaign, and in a very brutal way. He is therefore co-responsible for the Civic Coalition’s electoral fiasco. Now he has a problem, because during the election campaign, he positioned himself as Karol Nawrocki’s zoological enemy. Everyone knows he’s in a losing position, having ruined his chances of a good working relationship with the new president. And most citizens expect a harmonious cooperation between the prime minister and the president. The politician who starts a political war first loses.

The prime minister has already started this war. Dr. Karol Nawrocki has never been a member or activist of the Law and Justice party (PiS). He enters politics with a clean slate, free of burdens. One could even say he begins with no political experience. Therefore, treating him as a PiS man is a mistake. Karol Nawrocki knows he will be held accountable for his ability to fulfill the duties of the head of state enshrined in the Constitution. If he had acted as a PiS “adjunct,” he would have quickly lost his chance at a serious presidency.

Is there a chance for a political reset?

After Donald Tusk’s recent statements, for example, in Pabianice, this doesn’t seem likely. He spoke very condescendingly about the President-elect. I haven’t noticed any willingness to cooperate with him. His goal remains to polarize the political scene, dividing society into his own and enemies. Now, after Karol Nawrocki’s success, in addition to fighting the Law and Justice party (PiS), his goal is also to attack the president. This completely defeats the expectations of most citizens. It satisfies the expectations of Civic Platform activists and a narrow group of supporters of political confrontation.

The annihilation of the opposition, PiS, has not occurred and will not occur, despite the use of secret services, the police, the prosecutor’s office, and the withdrawal of funds—in my opinion, breaking the law.

When Tusk claims that the coalition is united in fighting evil, he means his mission is to destroy half of society, and that simply won’t work. With this view of the country, there’s no time to solve the problems of the state and the economy. Any lack of success is explained by the existence of an internal enemy that has not yet been destroyed.

A real reset means accepting reality, respecting the constitution, Constitutional Tribunal rulings, Supreme Court judgments, National Council of the Judiciary decisions, and respecting the state system.

So what awaits us?

Cooperation between a president and prime minister, when they come from different camps, is a difficult feat. But it’s possible with goodwill on both sides.

Successful cooperation won’t happen if one politician wants to destroy the other. They’re like drivers on a narrow road. If one tries to drive in the middle and push the other out, a crash will occur, and both will be injured. Wise politics means that politicians avoid collisions whenever possible, just like drivers. It’s better to drive safely than to engage in a confrontation to show who’s right or who’s more important.

There’s a lot of work to do in Poland, and there’s enough for everyone. You just have to be willing to work for Poland, not against someone else.

If it were that simple, the world would already be perfect.

The first condition is to abandon viewing the world, in this case the political forces in Poland, in terms of good and evil.

Unfortunately, Donald Tusk has created a coalition united by no ideological platform but solely by hatred of the Law and Justice party (PiS), a desire to demonstrate that PiS was and is wrong, and should not exist. Tusk refuses to acknowledge that the president’s goal is not to help PiS or any other party, but to protect the state’s interests, which are bipartisan in nature.

Our political life is poisoned by a polarizing approach to politics. The “militant democracy” program is the crowning proof of this. This program has nothing to do with democracy. Until the Civic Platform abandons it, it will harm both itself and Poland.

Why do you see the government as irrational?

Because unfortunately, that’s how they are. This is a characteristic of liberal elites, who believe that by definition they are the wisest and know best what is good, moral, and true. Since liberal elites preach freedom and democracy, they believe they possess only virtues. Therefore, they don’t have to listen to anyone, especially the society they despise. They don’t understand that the task of a true elite is to serve citizens, not impose anything on them.

But when someone considers themselves the wisest, part of an international elite, they don’t intend to listen to anyone, especially ordinary people. Today, the liberal elite behaves like colonizers who conquered some untamed lands in Africa. This elite wants to civilize society, not listen to it.

In Pabianice, Tusk’s supporters said that people’s consciousness has been cemented by TV Republika and appealed for this to be changed, preferably through administrative methods. The government’s main problem, therefore, is that it is formed by people who believe they have a mission to civilize an ignorant society. They want, like Minister Barbara Nowacka, to create a new, progressive man devoid of religion, knowledge of the nation’s history, and its culture.

Communists have already tried this before, but, as we know, to no avail.

Is there any way out of this clinch, out of this situation?

A mental revolution must take place among those who, instead of serving the people, want to govern and dictate to society what is good, how it should think, what morality is, and so on. A politician should look at the majority of citizens, not extreme minorities, whether from the right or the left. The problem is that Tusk doesn’t understand Polish society. As he said in Pabianice: “I can only count on you.” And the audience included supporters of the extreme wing of the Civic Platform, interested solely in political revenge, who see no real problem facing the country.

The government refuses to acknowledge that citizens aren’t waiting for a dictator, that Polish society is largely conservative, and that Poles want sovereignty, not subordination.

Meanwhile, Tusk wants to force society to be happy with a liberal agenda, because that’s what Brussels dictates. So-called liberal democracy, as interpreted by the European Commission, is the implementation of a liberal agenda. Such pressure from the European Commission is nothing less than a violation of the Treaty on European Union, because it contains no provision stating that liberal democracy is the only acceptable model of democracy in EU countries.

The European Commission, and Tusk behind it, want to exclude from life all those who think differently, such as conservatives or supporters of the republican system. The liberal elite wants to destroy anyone who doesn’t support the liberals through administrative methods, police measures, and financial blackmail. The government’s problem is actually Tusk’s problem, who considers Poland an abnormal country that he will civilize, i.e., reshape along liberal lines.

For mentally lazy people who despise their own society, its traditions, and achievements, imposing a program written in Brussels on Poland is the perfect solution. You can decide nothing yourself, just submit grant applications and wait for a call from Brussels, which will tell you what is allowed and what must be done.

What awaits us in this situation?

Either the ruling coalition understands that society must be respected, meaning it will come to terms with conservative society, or it will resort to repression. Either the government will start working for the people, or it will focus on actions by the police, prosecutors, and services to combat those who think differently and are dissatisfied.

When I hear that the strongest advocates of the Russia reset in Europe are now accusing anyone who criticizes the incompetent government of favoring Russia, I know we’re dealing with people who are delusional and need treatment. I fear that with this prime minister, such a mental revolution in this coalition is impossible. Besides, the government will have a chance when it understands that Brussels’s policies of recent years have been a complete disaster. I’m not just referring to the Green Deal or migration policy.

Over the past decade or so, European Union countries have found themselves in a much worse position compared to China and the United States than they once were. The influence of Merkel and her people on the EU has been a period of great regression for Europe in the world. Tusk is Merkel’s man, a disgraced group. Today, there’s no point in listening to Brussels or following its model.

Countries that are developing act differently from what Brussels wants. Each country should follow its own path.