| Tusk was let down by political correctness The Poles put to shame sociologists who predicted that Donald Tusk would win the second round of the presidential election. Voters voted for Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski to win by a more than comfortable margin. Poland is now ruled by twin brothers: Lech and Jaroslaw, who heads the largest party in the Sejm, Law and Justice.
There's nothing dramatic about Sunday's choice. Both Kaczynski and Tusk come from the same nest - Solidarity. Their principal rival, the candidate of the left, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, was eliminated (not without black PR) a month ago. Therefore, the choice in the second round had to be made between partners in the parliamentary coalition. Apparently, the Poles did not choose based on the political positions of the candidates, which for both are to the right of the center.
On the eve of the vote, Mr. Tusk was supported by the previous presidents of post-communist Poland, Lech Walesa and Aleksander Kwasniewski. Andrzej Lepper spoke in favor of Mr. Kaczynski - a sort of Polish Zhirinovsky, albeit with an agricultural bias. But I dare to suggest that it was not the recommendations of these politicians that played a decisive role in the Poles voting and refuting sociological forecasts. It seems to me that an excessively large number of pre-election duels played against Tusk. If there were fewer of them, he would most likely be the president.
After all, everything had already been explained and repeated many times, and the candidates continued to come and come to the television studios. They stood side by side, shook hands and explained the same platforms, not too different from each other, over and over again. Here the bored audience began to take a closer look at the characters on the TV show.
Neither one nor the other is a star, not a handsome Apollo, not a passionate tribune. But Tusk is more politically correct, and Kaczynski is a little sharper. And political correctness most likely played a cruel joke on the liberal Tusk. He's very correct. Such a typical European liberal, a new-style politician-bureaucrat, who are not much different from each other, and all almost look like a Ken doll (the boyfriend of the Barbie doll).
The situation was like in a family when the parents seemed to have found the ideal groom for their daughter. A pleasant young man in all respects, of worthy origin, well-educated, with knowledge of languages, an impeccable reputation, but a little boring. My daughter (read Poland) seemed to agree at first. But then one lunch, a second, a third...
And at the last moment, the daughter ran away from the wedding with an unprepossessing boy, who, although not tall enough and making acquaintances of little respect, but who has more pepper and a more cunning smile. And besides, there are obvious business advantages of a strong business executive. As a frequent visitor to Poland, I can testify that Warsaw, during the mayorship of Lech Kaczynski, has become a very pleasant, attractive and comfortable city to live in. Moreover, without the demolition of architectural monuments of the Stalin era and the endless digging of underground parking lots.
This is how twin brothers came to power in Poland. Lech Kaczynski wants to increase his portion of power and gain the opportunity to issue decrees that have the force of law. For this, however, changes to the constitution are necessary, and the twins will have to look for partners in the Sejm to create a reformist majority. However, according to the competent testimony of Lech Walesa (see yesterday's issue of Vremya Novostei) , the president really does not have enough power. In addition, we should not forget that after joining the European Union, this portion of power was reduced. A significant part of decisions is no longer made even by the Polish, but by the European bureaucracy. Including on foreign policy issues, including relations with Russia.
Now these relationships are simply very bad, and they will have to be built. But you don’t choose your neighbors, and you can’t escape them. And practice shows that sharp-tongued guys with character often turn out to be greater pragmatists than politically correct liberals. Lev BRUNI, Warsaw--Moscow |
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