“None of us dares to go to the other side”

The guests of the “#BezKitu Campaign” were Agnieszka Ścigaj (Polish Affairs), minister responsible for social integration in the outgoing PiS government, and Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz (Civic Coalition).

Agnieszka Ścigaj was asked about the atmosphere at one of the last meetings of the Council of Ministers. “So hard-working,” she replied. – It is clear that there is a need to complete and tie up various projects that have been started so that they can be continued, and there is a lot of hard work here to actually complete the tasks that we have undertaken, especially me, – she added.

When asked whether she believed in building a majority in the Sejm, Law and Justice she replied that she had met many MPs from the Civic Platform and the Left who looked at social issues similarly to PiS. – This space is a space for conversation – she added. She stated that “some MPs may be interested in talking about substantive issues.”

She said that each opposition MP “has certain elements that are very important to him.” – And it seems to me that there are some MPs who will be killed for these demands. And they will look for a space where and with whom these demands can be implemented more efficiently and faster – she added. – There is no coalition formed on the other side yet – she noted.

Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz also spoke. – Each of the MPs voted for by the voters (of the opposition – editor) is aware of the fact that, among other things, they also voted because we will remove PiS from power, to restore the rule of law in Poland, so that there will be money from the EU European Union, so that women feel safe, so that the Polish economy supported by money from KPO can develop, there can be better economic growth – she said.

– People knew why they were voting for us, because we said very clearly in the campaign what we would do. We, as the Civic Coalition, have presented 100 specifics and we are ready to implement them. (…) So none of us will dare to go to the other side, because we would really be dealing with a lynching – she added.

Youth representatives also asked questions to the guests of the “#BezKitu Campaign”. Aleksandra Jarosławska from the Young People’s Forum asked Agnieszka Ścigaj about the idea of ​​paying the 800 plus benefit only to working people. Paweł Stolarczyk (Generation 2050) also directed his question to the minister responsible for social integration. It concerned the Personal Assistance Act.

Wojciech Vincent Sawoniewicz from the Young Left asked Marzena Okłę-Drewnowicz about her idea for improving the financial situation of students. Michał Butkiewicz (New Generation) raised the issue of Agnieszka Ścigaj’s decision to join the ruling camp during the current term of office of the Sejm.

Later in the program, Dr. hab. Anna Matysiak (family demographer and economist, University of Warsaw) talked about the decline in the fertility rate in Poland. She pointed out that there are many reasons why young Poles do not start families, including: concerns related to war in Ukrainerestriction of the right to abortion and climate changes.

She stated that politicians “cannot propose solutions” that will respond to people’s needs. Among the things that need to be done now to improve the fertility rate in Poland, she mentioned increasing the number of nurseries, making childcare more equally shared between both partners and improving public health care.

However, she assessed that in this respect it was “a little too late”. – There will be fewer and fewer of us and we will get older. The age structure of the population will change. There will be correspondingly more older people, fewer and fewer young people and fewer and fewer people active on the labor market, she concluded.