OPINION. Well, that's already clear. The Great Revenge Party will stand up against the Law and Justice (PiS) party. This aggression against democracy must be opposed

A week after the Gdańsk tragedy and a dozen or so hours after the funeral, the matters are beginning to take on more and more shape. I believe that the mourning and suffering of the close ones and friends of the late Paweł Adamowicz deserve due respect, so I refrained from political analysis. But the time has come to summarize the state of affairs.

1. The criminal, poignant murder of the mayor of Gdańsk is to become the founding myth of the Great Revenge Party. The facts seem meaningless, nothing can undermine the alleged responsibility of the ruling camp; neither the criminal past of the perpetrator, nor the murderer’s lack of any connection with the world of politics. Moreover, the thesis that the PiS’s camp spreads some „hatred” which affects the innocent and helpless, is untenable. It is exactly the opposite of what can be heard even in these days. And even the fact that the late Paweł Adamowicz had fought a brutal political struggle with Civic Platform (PO) politicians before his death is blurred in this fog of hypocrisy.

2. The Great Revenge Party needs this message for two basic reasons. Firstly, to claim that it is founded, acts and seeks to take revenge for the death of the mayor of Gdansk. In fact, revenge is to be carried out on the PiS party for the very basic reason that they dared to gain power in democratic elections in 2015. Secondly, in order to create a new political platform that will eliminate old divisions, allow for the return of pushed out and discredited activists, and cover the lack of a positive programme. Hence the greatest enthusiasm for this idea among those who are left on the political sidelines today.

3. The first step, which I agree is necessary, is to pacify these media and opinion-forming centres that break the information and creative monopoly of the Third Republic camp. Therefore, please note, a powerful attack on public television, as well as on the weekly „Sieci” broke out immediately on the first day after the tragedy. The comments in „Rzeczpospolita” were intended to force the resignation of Jacek Kurski; some attempts are still being made to create completely misleading theses about alleged manipulations. For the careful observers it is quite obvious that there is nothing like that. Such attacks will probably be repeated. What is noteworthy, they do not apply to public radio. And it is also understandable: from the radio station Jedynka, the listener in those days did not learn that the murder was carried out by a criminal, but he heard a lot about the hatred that allegedly caused it.

4. Some may expect that the Great Revenge Party will intensify its efforts to win and take over those right-wing people who declare their willingness to seek, in spite of everything, some kind of agreement. But this is an analytical mistake. We should expect the opposite. No centralists will be needed anymore, and those who have been persuaded to do so will soon suffer from it. The course will be sharpened; only thunders will be printed. If anyone is looking for confirmation, let them look at the pictures showing President Duda and Prime Minister Morawiecki somewhere in the further rows of St. Mary’s Basilica. I don’t think it’s an unforgettable thing, still sad, but in the face of sincere reliving of the situation by, among others, Andrzej Duda, it’s symptomatic. Nobody wanted to honor him there, because it is not about repairing the country, but chasing away the PiS members. The aim is not to lower the temperature of the dispute, but to heat it up to a revolutionary state.

5. One of the right-wing politicians, very much respected by myself, observing the whole situation from a distance, told me in reaction to this gloomy spectacle: „It’s time to cry out – the Right, get up from your knees”. Of course, it doesn’t refer only - which I strongly emphasize - to the context of the tragedy itself, but it concerns a wider backdrop, connected with the Law and Justice party’s resignation from putting a strong emphasis on its own agenda; its astonishing meekness, sometimes listlessness. This hypocritical campaign, of course, attributing responsibility for the criminal’s deed to the right wing camp or to the media which are not at the service of the Third Republic, is possible on this scale, among other things, only because we see too many programme withdrawals (although some of them were necessary); we hear too many meaningless speeches. The right wing also has too many people on board, who do not feel and have never been part of this camp and do not contribute to it. The expected bonus for such mercy has not come and will not come. The goal of peace and quiet is also far away. In times of crisis, the costs of such omissions can be seen. Unfortunately, the truth is that in today’s Europe there is no other way for the right-wing camp than the Hungarian one (having its own language, its own agenda, accumulation of resources).

6. Nothing has yet been resolved. An attempt to convert a criminal murder into a political one does not have to succeed. The Third Republic of Poland does not exist at all - as was claimed just after the tragedy in „Polityka”. – “PiS on a fork”. I even suspect that the festival of political hypocrisy and deception - that we’ve been observing, created on the basis of this authentic drama - this attempt to add new layers of meaning and mysticism, may turn against the initiators. They are entering the same ruts that led them in the first „totalitarian” period. With poor results. These results were visible only later, when, under the influence of the political-media crew (we know where and who is in it), the opposition redirected its attention to earthly matters: prime minister, salaries, careers. It is also worth recalling that this is not the first attempt in the last three years to make a breakthrough in Poland through the cynical use of human death. And a perfect unity built on this coffin may also bring embarrassment. Generally speaking, the political plans constructed by the Michnik centre, and this is exactly what we are dealing with, are unlikely to succeed. They are always too ideological.

7. Nevertheless, everything depends on the attitude of the ruling camp. The first exam has been passed - genuine respect was shown in the face of the tragedy, no provocation was allowed, and the mourning was not usurped. But there is a second step ahead of us: the approaching offensive of the Great Revenge Party must be opposed by authenticity, dynamism, unity and the programme that brought success in 2015. In other words: we must rely on those common-sense social strata that want to repair our country, want to defend the world of Polish values, and not pointlessly court and serve those parts of the middle classes that have never been and are not interested in anything of that kind.

This aggression against democracy must be strongly opposed.

Michał Karnowski

 Follow me on Twitter: @michalkarnowski. Born in 1976. Journalist, publicist, author of books. Co- founder of the weekly "Uważam Rze. Inaczej Pisane". At present co-founder of the weekly "Sieci", the portal w Polityce.pl and TV station w Polskce.pl. If you wish to support our projects, you can do it here: https://wesprzyj.wpolityce.pl/ We will be grateful. Each zloty is for development. We also invite you to the shop with the best books: wSklepiku.pl

Tłum. KJ