Friday 22 March marks the 100th day of Donald Tusk’s rule, during which he promised 100 liberal reforms, but only a few have been fully implemented, Brussels Signal reports.
The most important of the reforms are state funding for the treatment of vital diseases, the reduction of the VAT rate for beauty salons and the relocation of the Ministry of Industry to the Silesian Industrial Basin. Tusk is also credited with unblocking money from the EU’s pandemic recovery fund. This is partly true, although Commissioner Vera Jourova, who is particularly favourable to the new government, says she is still waiting to see the results of the promised changes.
Those hoping for political revenge against the Law and Justice (PiS) party are most pleased with Donald Tusk’s rule. A private radio station conducted a poll in which 57% of respondents were in favour of punishing and sacking as many people as possible who worked in public institutions during the PiS government (2016-2023). The question directly implied “punishment” for the fact that someone worked in public institutions during PiS rule.
Donald Tusk cleverly exploited this sentiment and step by step, methodically, implemented a plan to purge the public sphere not only of PiS allies, but also of those who did not criticise PiS loudly enough. Among them was the head of Radio Belsat, a radio station broadcasting in Belarus and Russia. Ms. Romaszewska was highly respected among all political groups, and the radio station had been co-funded for many years by various Polish governments, as well as the British and US governments. It was considered one of the best tools for influencing the local community, according to Brussels Signal.
The retaliation against Law and Justice follows an almost theatrical script. Individual departments and public companies are scrutinised one by one, and the responsible ministers first claim to be appalled by the abuse and misuse of money. They usually do not give details, but this information suddenly appears in the friendly media, where “investigative” journalists announce that they have managed to unearth secret documents. Usually it is information about high salaries, purchases of unnecessary equipment or contracts with suspicious people. Without questioning this data, one would think that we would only recognise the tip of the fraud iceberg.
A couple of days later and we find out about another company or ministry and more fraud. Yet we still don’t know the full picture of these abuses, as if the director of this show wanted to entrust it to our conspiratorial imagination.
Sometimes the “investigative journalist” gets to exceptional material, such as the visitor’s book of the president of a state-owned company. The list may include journalists linked to PiS or people with suspicious reputations. Yet the journalist never asks the chairman of the board or these people what they were doing there.
Every now and then the “investigative journalist” pulls out wiretap tapes from his secret sources, where again we learn a snippet of something that, once released, could turn into a scandal.
At the same time the state media and friendly radio and TV channels broadcast live the public hearings of PiS politicians in parliament. Those who head the investigative committees investigating the sins of their predecessors do their best to provide viewers with an intriguing spectacle. In most cases, the factual findings turn out to be less important than the spectacular acts of humiliation of the summoned politicians. The recent hours-long interrogation of Jaroslaw Kaczyński was a shameful display of theatrical skill, mutual impertinence, procedural chaos, but above all, an outburst of anti-piracy emotion.
The stigmatisation of those associated with the previous government became a daily media event. One by one, every minister in Donald Tusk’s government feels obliged to release sensational information from internal audits of previous governments and announce lists of people to be fired, Brussels Signal reports.
Before the excitement over the legally dubious dismissals of public media journalists and independent prosecutors had even subsided, the foreign minister announced the mass dismissal of almost half of Poland’s ambassadors. Not only was the scale of the dismissals shocking and unprecedented in the history of Polish diplomacy, but the Foreign Ministry suggested that the dismissed diplomats had not served Poland well.
Moreover, the decision to dismiss the ambassadors was not put before the president, who, according to the Constitution, must give formal approval. Now there is a danger that, at a time of a heated geopolitical situation, Poland will be left without ambassadors in the world’s major capitals – at least for the next year and a half until the end of the presidential term.
What certainly works in Tusk’s favour is the European Commission’s tolerance of the government’s bizarre behaviour. This has a lot to do with the upcoming Euro elections. Poland appears to be the liberal hope for the future, against the backdrop of other Western European countries turning to the right.
During a recent visit to Poland, Commissioner Jourova was evasive when asked about the government’s illegal actions in firing journalists and prosecutors, making no secret of her deep satisfaction with the change of government in Warsaw.
This should come as no surprise, given that Donald Tusk has proved to be the perfect sidekick in difficult times for Brussels. He and his MEPs have been putting their signatures to the most controversial projects from the very beginning, without questioning them. These included a proposal to change the EU treaties and a law on natural resource recovery that brought thousands of farmers across Europe and in Poland onto the streets.
Political wrangling has distracted the Polish public from failed decisions and unfulfilled promises. High-profile sackings, investigations, media leaks, intimidation and ostracisation of anyone associated with the previous government have become the hallmarks of Donald Tusk’s 100-day rule, according to Brussels Signal.
The question is, how long can the government survive on this fuel? Especially as the government’s problems will be compounded by rising food prices due to the planned reinstatement of VAT on food and rising energy prices following the removal of state subsidies. When will people start asking about the cheap housing, fuel and tax cuts promised during the election campaign?
These are questions that Tusk and his inner circle must answer. The most respected and closest ministers to Tusk are already planning their move to Brussels. Some are planning to go to the European Parliament and others, like Mr. Sikorski, to the European Commission, where he wants to become defence commissioner.
All of them assume that after the change of treaties, positions and power at home will be secondary and illusory. The real power will reside in Brussels. Consequently, their prospects do not extend beyond the middle of this year; there should be enough hate fuel for that. Opinion polls show that the road to Brussels is open to them. However, the question is whether the Union needs such talent and experience.
