The media generally acknowledge that the master of PR in Polish politics is the former premier and Warsaw’s current acting mayor, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. That is not surprising: Marcinkiewicz’s PR activities are very obvious, if not obsessive. Meanwhile, in his shade, another politician is running his own PR campaign. One that’s far more subtle, if not Machiavellian. This politician is the deputy premier and education minister, Roman Giertych.

It may be rather odd to view Giertych’s activities as subtle, especially in regard to his “matriculation amnesty” – as good a means of grabbing votes as using a sledgehammer to open a sardine tin.

Let’s look at the deputy PM’s initiatives one by one. Firstly, Roman Giertych is probably the first and only minister in the world who conducts his ministerial duties through press conferences, announcing his latest ideas, none of which make their way into legislation. From the start of his ministry, he has issued only one order and that was by finalising one that was ready – concerning the length of a school year.

Secondly, Giertych has perfected the art of feeding off his predecessors’ accomplishments. The most glaring example is the issue of uniforms in schools. He announced at a press conference that he intends to issue an order which will empower school heads and parental councils to impose on children the wearing of school uniforms. Meanwhile, the wearing of school uniforms has been allowed for a long time. The necessary legal clauses are already in place. In fact, quite a number of schools have already taken this on. But to the popular mind, it is minister Giertych who is putting an end to the school fashion shows and is stopping drug dealers entering, as they will now be easily distinguishable from the uniformed pupils.

Drug dealers and school uniforms are “issue three”. Minister Giertych’s actions are marked by their surface plausibility. However, it is well known that the dealers in schools are the children themselves, so uniform wearing will not hinder them at all. Giertych himself seems to realise this, but he is skillfully using the fear of drugs to create himself an image of the first education minister to tackle this curse. The issue of drugs is, anyway, part of a careful strategy. The fight against drugs and the blocking of access to pornography through special programs installed on school computers – what sensible person can object?

On another issue, Giertych has announced that he will be seeking to give teachers the status of civil servants, which will enable enforcement of respect towards them. Any form of verbal or physical attack on a teacher will have the same legal consequences as, for example, an attack on a policeman. What sensible person would not want to have such reassurance? However, such peace would be bought at a high price – on which minister Giertych remains silent – civil servants have to be fully subordinate to the state’s authorities, which in the school situation would mean educating children “in the only correct way”. It would end the variety in schools’ teaching programmes, its neutral outlook and apolitical stance – the school would become an organ of the state and would have to implement the policies of specific parties.

This all means that Roman Giertych is one of today’s most popular politicians. Many people don’t even associate him with the LPR party, seeing in him the last just person in Sodom and Gomorrah, someone at last who wants to bring order to Polish education.