PiS compares 800 plus picnics to “Active parent zones”. Wrongfully. Here are the main differences

Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk July 18, 2024 she informedthat her ministry has submitted notifications to the National Electoral Commission and the prosecutor's office about the possibility of a crime being committed by former minister Marlena Maląg. The notification concerns the 800 plus picnics organized during the 2023 election campaign during the United Right government, which were part of an information campaign on the indexation of the benefit from PLN 500 to PLN 800 per month. During press conference Dziemianowicz-Bąk said that the notifications were prepared based on the conclusions of the Supreme Audit Office, which examined the expenditure on the 800 plus picnics. Let us recall: NIK she pointed out among others, the inappropriateness and mismanagement of expenses for these events. Former Minister Marlena Maląg she called these allegations are “demagogy and malice”.

And this is happening at a time when the fate of the budget subsidy for Law and Justice is hanging in the balance. Among other things, due to the controversy over the spending of money from the Justice Fund in districts where PiS and Sovereign Poland politicians ran, the State Electoral Commission has not yet made a decision on accepting the report on the party's expenditures in the campaign before the parliamentary elections in 2023. According to some politicians from the ruling coalition, the irregularities are too great to grant PiS the full subsidy. The government's 800 plus picnics, at which members of the government running in the campaign were prominent, are cited as examples of support for the PiS campaign.

In response to these theses, PiS politicians argue that the picnics of their time and the current actions of Donald Tusk's government are the same, so taking away party subsidies for this reason is just political revenge. Many comments from Law and Justice politicians were triggered by a post by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, which on July 22 in social media published photos from the stand designated “Active Parent Zone”. The Ministry promoted a new program aimed at parents there. “In our zone, you could learn more about the 'Active Parent' program prepared in the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy under the management of Ministry Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk and its principles. The youngest could enjoy the activity zone, competitions with prizes, games and activities led by animators,” the entry said.

PiS politicians accused the Ministry of Family of hypocrisy, asking what the differences are between the positions promoting the “Active Parent” program and the 800 plus picnics. They commented (original spelling of posts):

Radoslaw Fogiel: “Are these the picnics about which the minister filed a report to the prosecutor's office? Are they smiling?”
Anita Czerwinska: “She just said that you shouldn't organize picnics, just send information by post and that it's a crime. It's enough to call a picnic a zone and it's not a crime anymore”
Józefa Szczurek-Żelazno: “How much do these picnics cost??? What is their purpose??? Who from MRPiPS takes part in them??? We will ask these and other questions to the hypocrite Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk”
Marcin Horala: “Is the prosecutor warmed up yet?”

The former spokesman for Mateusz Morawiecki's government, currently PiS MEP Piotr Mueller, also referred to these stands. On July 30, he was asked on Polsat News about the controversy surrounding the financing of the party's campaign and the still unadopted financial report. Mueller stated: “At the same time, this team that is making these accusations against us is having these picnics. After all, two or three weeks ago there was a picnic organized on the occasion of the 'Active Parent' program, the aforementioned campaign in social media. Minister (of Sport and Tourism Sławomir – ed.) Nitras, who travels, also promises various funds for sports infrastructure. But you see, I am not accusing him of violating the provisions of electoral law during the elections to the European Parliament, because this is the government's activity. And at the same time, they for the same actions They are trying to take away our subsidy.”

We explain why in this case we cannot speak of “the same actions”.

Let us first recall the history of the government 800 plus picnics: in July 2023, the Sejm passed a law raising the amount of the “Family 500 plus” child benefit from PLN 500 to PLN 800. Even before it was signed by President Andrzej Duda, the Ministry of Family and Social Policy under the leadership of Marlena Maląg in cooperation with provincial offices It started “information campaign regarding changes in the program”, as part of which, among other things, it visited numerous cities and organized 800 plus picnics there. During the picnics, it was announced that from January 1, 2024, the benefit would increase from PLN 500 to PLN 800, even though parents already receiving the funds did not have to fill out any additional applications to receive a higher amount from the new year. It was summer, the pre-campaign for the parliamentary elections, strongly intensified by PiS, was already underway. For example, on July 16, the Podlaskie Voivode announced that the first picnic would take place on July 23 in Supraśl, the next one on August 6 in Łomża, August 20 in Suwałki, and September 3 in Czartajewo.

Picnics were therefore organized after August 8, 2023, after the official start of the election campaign. The events took place in various constituencies throughout Poland, and their guests were PiS politicians, including those running in those regions. For example, on August 12, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Rafał Weber spoke at a picnic in Stalowa Wola; on August 13, Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czarnek in Lublin; and on August 15, PiS MEP Elżbieta Rafalska in Kłodawa.

Already at the beginning of September 2023, a month and a half before the elections, the MPs of the Civic Coalition Aleksandra Gajewska and Arkadiusz Marchewka They informedthat such picnics held during the election campaign are “a violation of all rules of a democratic state and a violation of principles”; they reported that “each weekend of these PiS election rallies costs Polish women and men 720 thousand zlotys”.

READ MORE: Almost six million złoty. KO MPs: this is how much Poles spent on PiS picnics

In July 2024, NIK in its report she gavethat the organization of 800 plus picnics in 2023 cost PLN 8.5 million. According to the auditors, these expenses were “wasteful and inappropriate”, because some of the picnics took place before the completion of legislative work on 800 plus, the change in the amount of the benefit was to take place automatically, and the assessment of the impact of the project regulations showed that the new act would not impose additional information obligations on the administration.

So are the “Active Parent Zones” now being set up by the Ministry of Family at outdoor events really the “same activities” as the 800 plus picnics? No – and the differences are fundamental.

The first difference: “Active Parent” stands are not set up at government-funded events. Because the “Active Parent Zones” are not separate outdoor events organized by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, but information zones set up as part of the “Summer with Polish Radio and Television” holiday tour organized by public media. This information is even found in the ministry's posts shared by PiS politicians: “First Zakopane, then Racibórz. It was in these cities that we hosted all those willing to attend the 'Active Parent Zone' of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy during the 'Summer with Polish Radio and Television' holiday tour”. Meanwhile, the 800 plus picnics were organized by the ministry in cooperation with provincial offices headed by provincial governors elected by the government. In other words, these were events financed with public money.

The second difference: no government members appear at the “Active Parent” stands. The photos posted by the ministry show that only a young woman is standing under a tent with the ministry's logo, providing information, and an activity zone for children has been set up next to it. Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk has not published any entry on her social media regarding the “Active Parent zones”. Meanwhile, politicians from the Morawiecki government and PiS were present at the 800 plus picnics and strongly promoted their presence there.

The third difference: The “Active Parent” program is a new government initiative. Parents will be able to submit applications for one of the three benefits paid under this program to ZUS only from 1 October 2024. On the other hand, the 500 plus program has been operating since April 2016, and after changing the amount of the benefit to PLN 800, parents received a higher amount without having to submit additional applications – so there was no need to additionally promote and publicize it. NIK drew attention to this in its report on the wasteful spending of funds on picnics.

And it is worth mentioning the fourth, also significant difference: There is currently no election campaign in Poland.

Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk herself drew attention to the above differences when on July 26 in Polsat News was asked about the allegations made by PiS politicians. “I've seen these posts. I'm smiling because this is an extremely far-fetched attempt to compare something that is incomparable,” the Minister of Family replied. “First of all, 'Active Parent' is a new program. Applications can be submitted from October 1, payments a little later, but this is a new flagship project of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. Secondly, the picnics are 'Summer with the Radio' picnics. These are events organized anyway, during which the government, the ministry informs about a completely new benefit, about a completely new program. Thirdly, one basic change. Did the editor or any of the MPs see any politician there, any female politician? No, these are government, ministerial stands without a minister, without a deputy minister, without politicians from any of the coalition parties,” she listed.

We asked the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, as well as Polish Television and Polish Radio, who finances these stands promoting the “Active Parent” program at public media outdoor events. However, we did not receive a response from any institution before the article was published. This does not change the fact that equating 800 plus picnics with these stands is manipulation.