Seven days in Poland

Even in Polish politics we can observe a spring revival.

The recent Easter holiday in Poland became, as it were traditionally, a political event and not, as elsewhere in the world, primarily a religious one. Polish Easter coincided with the third peak of the pandemic, which in Poland was characterized by a large number of infected people and the highest number of fatalities in a year. However, the Polish Catholic Church does not want to cooperate with the state in the fight to limit the transmission of the virus. During holidays, the faithful, without any reaction from Catholic priests, gathered in churches without obeying the rules of the lockdown introduced in Poland. In one town in eastern Poland, priests displayed a symbolic Holy Sepulchre, which they used to incite hatred against LGBT+ community.

Some priests tried to convince the faithful that… the pandemic is a punishment for their sins. This irrational approach to the disease caused by the virus caused the faithful to fear and panic.

A left-wing MP who intervened on the issue of the faithful’s gatherings in churches became a victim not only of a wave of hate on social networks, but fanatical Catholics also threatened her with death.

Creating an atmosphere of intolerance and xenophobia towards LGBT+ communities is already bearing its sad fruit. Krystyna Pawłowicz, one of the most intolerant representatives of the right, unleashed a hate campaign against a transgender child in a school in the west of Poland. It was only thanks to the decisive attitude of the school management and the city authorities that the tragedy of the child could be avoided.

Members of parliament and left-wing activists stood up in defence of the student.

The same happened with the extreme right-wing fascist organization ONR (National Radical Camp), which in its program and actions showed xenophobia, racism, anti-semitism and a threat to public order. Seven of them were finally brought to justice.

The Federation of Young Social Democrats is warning that the authorities, liberals and ideological apparatuses are strengthening fascist tendencies in contemporary Poland.

The pandemic poses huge challenges for doctors medical staff. It is unfortunate that salaries for fighting the virus are not distributed fairly. Doctors have won raises for themselves, while nurses are still working beyond their means and earning ridiculously low salaries. They have had enough. They have threatened to strike.

The right wing does not want to learn from the history of working people’s struggles for their rights. An MP of the Polish right wing and a well-known right-wing journalist have started to argue openly in the media that it would be interesting to give 14-year-old children a chance to… work. Well, we thought that giving children the right to education rather than being forced to earn their living was a civilisational achievement. Apparently, for the right-wing it was not.

The liberal right does not cease to criticize the pro-social reforms proposed by the government. The essence of the government has not changed – it is a right-wing and authoritarian government, with many sins on its conscience: the destruction of the justice system, the division of power in Poland, the appropriation of the media, the restriction of freedom of speech and conscience. However, he also took some actions that could have made people’s lives easier. One such idea was an allowance of about $120 for each child. This reduced extreme poverty and helped large families significantly. However, the liberal right is still trying to convince people that this is a bad idea because it „makes them lazy.” This is the old neoliberal narrative, coming back again and again.

Ryszard Petru powraca i wyjaśnia Polakom: 500 plus to grzech i demoralizacja

Translated into English by Wojciech Łobodziński.