We invitation you to subscribe to the newsletter “Special State”. all week we pay attention to key events and urge interesting texts. You can sign up here.
However, it should be remembered that Trzaskowski has a hard task. He is attacked by a fronda of right-wing candidates, as well as coalitions — Simon Holovnia and Magdalena Biejat. The top tensions are between Trzaskowski and Hołównia. The candidate KO resents the leader of Poland 2050 that he has undermined his challenge plan for Karol Nawrocki's duel.
Let us callback the series of events that led to the open war between Trzaskowski and Hołownia. It started with Nawrocki, who challenged Trzaskowski for a debate in Koński.
The Trzaskowski challenge accepted. He put a video on social media“Mr Charles Nawrocki, I hear you want to debate. Come in. I'm just informing you, we'll gotta answer the questions of journalists. Do you have adequate courage?”
Initially, everything went according to the script of Trzaskowski. The KO candidate wanted to kill a fewer roasts with 1 stone. Firstly, the debate of tv Republic and Trzaskowski was already announced. The debate on his terms with Nawrocki was to cover the event of the Republic — and to justify that Trzaskowski would not appear to debate at the office of the right-wing station.
Secondly, Trzaskowski wanted to strengthen the polarization of KO-PiS — or de facto aid Nawrock in his duel with Sławomir Mentzen. The Trzaskowski Staff does not want Mentzen in the second round, due to the fact that he is the harder opponent than the PiS candidate — he breaks out of the KO war versus the PiS, he is young and never ruled. From Trzaskowski's point of view, they're all flaws.
Titus Żmijewski / PAPSławomir Mentzen speaks during a gathering with voters in Tuchola, April 2025.
Fury on the Holovnia in the Trzaskovsky Staff. Marshal helps “Sakie”
Two options were possible at this point. The option that Trzaskowski's staff inactive believes present — Nawrocki would not come to this start due to the fact that he is afraid of the "one-on-one" debate. According to this version, after Trzaskowski took the glove, the Republic entered the game — precisely to save Nawrocki. Tomasz Sakiewicz's tv — called "Sakiewa" in PiS due to his love of cash — announced that he would do his next debate with all the willing candidates.
As a substance of fact, she besides planned it in Koński, an hr before the start of the debate by Trzaskowski. According to the Citizens' Coalition staff, the first debate of the Republic, with the participation of Nawrocki, of course, was to take at least 2 hours to cover the Trzask debate and give Nawrocki an alibi so that he would not appear in the clash “one by one”.
Raphael Guz / PAPFrom the left: Mateusz Morawiecki, Jarosław Kaczyński and Tomasz Sakiewicz
However, Nawrocki's staff convince that from the beginning they planned to surprise the politicians of KO and straight from the debate of the Republic to rush to Trzaskowski for debate.
Whether Nawrocki would come to the start “one by one” or not, it does not substance today. due to the fact that everything changed the game. Speaker of the Sejm of Simon Holown, who unexpectedly announced that he was going to appear at the debate of the Republic, and then push into the debate of Trzaskowski. In this situation, the “one-on-one” clash of Trzaskowski and Nawrocki fell as a political thought of the KO staff. And that thought was destroyed by the Holownia.
The Marshal of the Sejm said: “I will not let half of Poland to be excluded from the elections. People are to decide about their outcome, not candidates from tv on the phone. I am going to the Horses present to talk in the debate."
Hołownia went to the debate of the Republic, and then he dragged the full run of candidates for the debate to Trzaskowski. Nawrocki was besides among them — but the broader expression of the debate, involving respective another participants, was much more advantageous to him than the direct clash with Trzaskowski.
Adam Kumorowicz / PAPPre-election debate of tv Republic in Koński
Hence, the rage on the Holovnia in the Trzaskowski Staff and, more broadly, in the Platform. We're talking to 1 of Trzaskovsky's staff.
— Before calling Nawrocki to debate “one-on-one” with Trzaskowski, did you contact the surroundings of Holownia?” we ask.
— No, he admits.
We notice: “You have nothing to be amazed about. After all, the Holovnia is fighting for existence. He believes that a decent consequence in the presidential election will let him to last in politics. Otherwise the 3rd Road will fall apart, and possibly Poland will fall apart 2050. That's why he's going to the debates, due to the fact that it looks good in them.
Paweł Supernak / PAPSzymon Hołownia, Rafał Trzaskowski
Our interviewer answers: “We didn’t anticipate this due to the fact that at first the Holovnia said publically that it would not interfere in another people’s debates. Clearly, he changed his head under the influence of his surroundings. Our mistake was that we could not rapidly redesign this debate under many candidates. Now we know that Holovnia will attack us in the campaign.
Let's face it: The Holovnia hates Trzaskovsky. We really know what it's made of.
He will not only attack, but at the same time torpedoed a uniform coalition line against the Republic. Not only is Trzaskowski going to the “Sakiev” station, but besides the candidate of the Left Magdalena Biejat. The fact is that if it wasn't for Hołownia, then the debates of the Republic would be caricatured, due to the fact that writers and Confederates would be talking to each another in them with Joanna Senyszyn's entertaining participation and the socialist counter-opposition of Adrian Zandberg.
Andrzej Jackowski / PAPMagdalena Biejat at a conference in Tczew, April 2025.
Holovnia as talker of the Sejm adds importance and seriousness to the elections of the Republic.
We realize his business to be there — a place where he can separate himself from Trzaskovsky. At the same time Holowna's presence emphasizes the deficiency of Trzaskowski.
Let's face it: The Holovnia hates Trzaskovsky. He believes he stole his 2020 presidency. While in the erstwhile election candidate KO Margaret Kidawa-Błońska scrubbed after the polling day, Holovnia volunteered to the then authorities of the Platform, declaring to join the organization in exchange for support. Given that as a celebrity and political novice already had his own electorate in that campaign, additional votes from KO voters gave him a good chance to win with president Andrzej Duda. These plans were thwarted by Trzaskowski, who understood that specified a solution struck his presidential dreams. Therefore, he decided to replace Kidawa-Błońska, even though he had previously planned a start only after the end of Duda's second term.
Paweł Supernak / PAPRafał Trzaskowski and Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska at the Warsaw electoral headquarters, June 2020.
He'll never forget it.
After 2 abandoned debates in the Republic, Trzaskovsky polls began to fall
The polls are consistent: Poles mostly want Trzaskowski to debate. In addition, after 2 abandoned debates in the Republic where the Holovnia was, Trzaskowski's polls began to fall. Whether it is the consequence of the debate itself or the effect of the run — it is besides early to assess. This does not change the fact that Trzaskowski loses 1 period before the first and 1 and a half months before the second circular — and thus at an absolutely highest of the campaign.
Nawrocki has greater comfort than Trzaskovsky in many ways. For Trzaskovsky, election defeat will be the end of the political career, even the president of Warsaw will not be erstwhile again, due to the fact that under the regulation of the Law and Justice the terms of local government were limited to two. For Nawrocki, even failure will only be the beginning of a political career, due to the fact that to date, he was more of a goalkeeper, gym and training room.Not political salons.
Trzaskowski is the only candidate to defend government policy, and since the government has a crisis of support, this task is ungrateful. Nawrocki does not defend the policy of the Law and Justice Government but for a package of social gifts and investments on paper specified as CPK. erstwhile questions arise about the scams of his organization colleagues during the PiS rule, he prefers to cover himself up with a bullshit argument that he is simply a citizen candidate alternatively than a organization candidate.
tv RepublicPresidential debate on tv Republic
Trzaskowski collects his fights from all competitors, including his coalitions. And Nawrocki has a comparative peace on the right, due to the fact that another candidates to the right attack him harmlessly or at all. erstwhile during the debate in the studio of the Republic, Confederate leader Sławomir Mentzen asked Nawrocki about the negative decisions of the Law and Justice Government, specified as the covid policy or the 5 for animals, he heard that the common enemy was Trzaskowski. "Don't bother me, sir, but this gentleman in an empty place," Nawrocki said, pointing to an empty place where Trzaskowski would stand. Mentzen never asked again.
Some of the right -wing competitors put balls on him — like the head of Channel Zero Krzysztof Stanowski, who invited Nawrocki for a nice, long interview. It is no wonder that the Republic was delighted to ask for reissue of this warm conversation. Yeah, we know. Trzaskowski got an invitation too. But there is no uncertainty that Stanowski’s run — outside of the game — has 1 goal: the sinking of Trzaskovsky.
Most presidential candidates are anti-EU nationalists, LGBT enemies and Trump fans
Let's see. Political profiles of thirteen candidates for president registered by the State Election Commission. Most of them are right and even ultra-right — anti-EU nationalists, LGBT enemies, and Donald Trump fans. There are at least 100,000 voters, in any cases hundreds of thousands. This shows that the moods in public are alternatively right-wing than left-left-liberal.
Paweł Supernak / PAPRafał Trzaskowski and Donald Tusk at the civilian Coalition Convention in Warsaw, October 2024.
Also Prime Minister Donald Tusk makes another return in his rhetoric. After an unexpected introduction to the banners of anti-migration slogans in the run before the 2023 parliamentary election — which helped him return to power — now Tusk announces a large “repolonization”.
It takes advantage of the uncertain global situation, including the customs war Donald Trump declared to the planet in an effort to isolate the American economy. "The age of naive globalisation is ending. If we want to build the state safely, Polish companies cannot wait in line for global players. Time to rebuild the national economy, repolonize the market, capital. Capital has nationality, economy has nationality," said Tusk.
To date, the "repolonisation" was mainly the motto of the PiS, and Jarosław Kaczyński understood it as the redemption by the state of companies controlled by abroad companies. In this way, they were taken over under PiS, including Pekao SA, previously controlled by Italy or railway company PKP Energetyka, which was owned by Americans.
Tomasz Gzell / PAPJarosław Kaczyński and Karol Nawrocki during the program convention in the hall in the Podwarszawski Sheligach, March 2025.
By dropping the slogans of economical nationalism, Tusk announces a change in the management of state-owned companies. The fresh way is to have quite a few things to say, quite a few writing, in the kind of Jarosław Kaczyński. ‘The manager of a co-owned company is simply a national. Our interests are white and red," said Tusk. He announced the control of the investments carried out by the State Treasury companies in terms of the preference of Polish capital.
The first task of the state manager – even if he is the head of the stock exchange company – is, according to the fresh interpretation, to supply as inexpensive products and services as possible to Poles, alternatively than maximizing the profits of the State Treasury. “If it was just profit maximization that made sense, why would you be in specified a company?” Tusk asked.
Tusk is simply a soft populist, good — even if he is late — reading social sentiments. The criticism of Brussels for its unpopular decisions in Poland is increasingly heard in the statements of the PO leader — whether for the immigration pact or for the adoption of the Green Deal or for the beginning of borders for Ukrainian agricultural products.
Tusk knows very well that Liberal voters do not have much choice — they must vote for him and his candidates. The left will most likely absorb the left by the end of this term. At the same time, he understands very well that there is simply a number in society — clearly after the election results.
Tomasz Gzell / PAPRobert Biedron, Vladimir Czarzasty, Adrian Zandberg at a conference in Warsaw, April 2023.
In this sense, the right-wing nationalist deviation is intended to aid win the Trzaskowski presidency.
All podcast sections:
