Established 1999

VIEWPOINT FROM THE RIGHT

20 kwiecień 2008

Without stars

As the Law and Justice party we have conducted public opinion research. Among all the focus groups, supporters of various parties expressed intense dislike for stars. Poles absolutely reject the idea of sending rally drivers, singers and sailors to the EP – this is not that kind of category. Each of us respects those who have achieved something – artists, sportsmen – but this is not the issue.


MICHAŁ KAMIŃSKI


Law and Justice Deputy


is running as a candidate
for the European Parliament



Paweł Makowski: You were the first Polish deputy to take the floor in the European Parliament. Do you feel like someone who has made history?


MICHAŁ KAMIŃSKI: It was a great honor for me. I felt as if this were a historic moment by announcing the first Polish speeches in the European Parliament – earlier in the EP President Wałęsa and President Kwaśniewski spoke. I am glad that later I was thanked among those to whom we owe our entry into the Union, the unity of the continent and the fact that Poland is part of the West. I mentioned Polish soldiers during the Second World War, prisoners from the Stalinist period and Polish conservatives and socialists who, irrespective of their source of inspiration, fought for freedom. I think it is a good thing that I said these things as a representative of the younger generation. We must honor those who came before us because without their efforts and, frequently without the blood they shed, we wouldn’t be able to experience joy today, that joy which is entry into the EU. Because it is joy. Poland is a part of the Western world and is today on that better side of the world, on the sunnier side of the street.


Do you believe that Poles know who and what they are voting for in choosing deputies to the EP?


I am afraid that turnout will be very weak because in Poland there is no awareness of the role, meaning and influence of the EP. At the same time 80 percent of the law which entered into force in Poland on May 1 or will enter into force in the future was made in the EU. One of the unusually spectacular things in the EP is that there is no tribunal. Deputies speak from their places. It is impossible to block the tribunal in the EP. In light of this we should choose those who don’t want to block anything. Today there is no room for foot stomping and blocking the rostrum.


My question is whether, in your opinion, Poles know that these are elections to another parliament, that these candidates who achieved success at home won’t necessarily be successful in the EP?


As the Law and Justice party we have conducted public opinion research. Among all the focus groups, supporters of various parties expressed intense dislike for stars. Poles absolutely reject the idea of sending rally drivers, singers and sailors to the EP – this is not that kind of category. Each of us respects those who have achieved something – artists, sportsmen – but this is not the issue. The EP is another issue altogether. People don’t want that kind of stardom and realize that the point is not to choose someone from the county but someone who will represent the entire country and achieve success as a professional politician. Polls reveal that there are parties for which Poles are willing to vote in elections to the Sejm. However, in terms of EP elections, support for those parties is much lower. Samoobrona is a good example of this. I also hope that this election campaign will be content-based – a discussion and not arguments. If arguments must occur, let them take place in a well-mannered way and not be manifested as common brawls.


These elections will be a preview of our national elections. Mud-slinging and demagoguery can’t be avoided.


I hope, and this is a naive hope, that voters will punish fanaticism in these elections. I use these words: the elections can’t become an attempt to export unwanted elements to Brussels. They must be elections in which even those who often vote for populists in national elections out of spite will be aware that all of Poland will be judged by 450 million EU citizens based on those populists.


You are not only a candidate for the EP with a political vision. You are also a young man (32 years) and recently started a family. What is you personal plan for Europe?


I will mention two things right away. I will fight first and foremost for a solid Europe. This involves not only solidarity but also money. I will fight so that the older and wealthier members of the EU will be constantly aware that the well-being of new countries is also in their interest. I will strive for a Europe of our forefathers. No one is European in abstracto. Each is a European because he or she is Polish, Spanish, Estonian … I will fight so that no one thinks the ideas of a “good Pole” and a “good European” are mutually exclusive. In terms of my personal plans … I want to take advantage of the EP to show Europe a new Polish patriotism. I dream that this new Polish patriotism of the 21st century will not be directed against anyone or anything, but that it will be a patriotism of optimism, faith in our own strength, joy and success.


Thank you.

W wydaniu 2, June 2004 również

  1. VIEWPOINT FROM THE RIGHT

    Without stars
  2. VIEWPOINT FROM THE LEFT

    We are a family
  3. FROM THE EDITOR

    The first weeks
  4. TANGLED REFLECTIONS

    In the Union
  5. DECISIONS AND ETHICS

    The CSR euro-marathon
  6. CURRENT POLITICS

    Political dance
  7. POLISH AGRICULTURE

    Storks understand...
  8. POLAND - EAST

    Politics & economy
  9. REGIONS

    I know eurocrats
  10. BRITISH DIPLOMACY

    Cheerful personality
  11. TURKISH DIPLOMACY

    An element of tradition
  12. IN POLAND

    Press review
  13. POETRY

    Czesław Miłosz
  14. CONTEMPORARY ART

    Franciszek Maśluszczak
  15. POLITICAL OPPOSITION

    A clean slate