{"id":3798,"date":"2020-10-08T13:46:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T11:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpz.medienlabor-hosting.de\/?p=3798"},"modified":"2022-06-15T10:13:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T08:13:07","slug":"a-very-political-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"A Very Political Virus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COVID-19 has visibly affected the Polish economy and public health, just like it was the case elsewhere. Nevertheless, the societal and political consequences of the sudden pandemic are more severe.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic caught Poland in a politically loaded moment. Only in October 2019, the governing Law and Justice party confirmed its ongoing advantage over the opposition in the parliamentary election. Nevertheless, the dynamics inside the governing United Right coalition changed, leaving the party of Jaros\u0142aw Kaczy\u0144ski more dependent on its two junior coalition partners who granted it a majority in the Sejm. In 2020, another political race was scheduled: the presidential election for which the campaign had already kicked off in February. The incumbent Andrzej Duda could not feel too confident, challenged by old and new opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sudden emergence of the coronavirus shook the country, exposing the vulnerability of its leadership.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Besides the political struggle of national-conservative government versus the more liberal and pro-European opposition, Polish economy was still on the rise earlier this year and the population was enjoying the mid-term effects of the generous social policy programmes introduced in recent years. The sudden emergence of the coronavirus shook the country, exposing the vulnerability of its leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Der Blog<\/em>
Corona & Society: Nachdenken \u00fcber die Krise
<\/strong>Was k\u00f6nnen Gesellschaft und Politik programmatisch-konzeptionell aus der Krise lernen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Alle Beitr\u00e4ge<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Despite its chronic underfunding, the Polish healthcare system and health workers handled the growing numbers of infections, at times forced to invest in PPE out of their pocket. Simultaneously, in a rush to meet the demand for medical equipment, the Minister of Health was accused of cronyism and irregularities in public procurement, when he involved his brother and an entrepreneur dealing with illegal arms trading in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the government decided to draft the anti-crisis shield act. Next to measures aimed at cushioning the approaching economic crisis, it also attempted to slip measures not related to the pandemic and serving other political purposes, such as enacting an unfoundedly stricter penal code. Unsurprisingly, there were doubts of procedural character if the standards of a proper legislative process were observed when hastily proceeding the consecutive editions of the anti-crisis shield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presidential elections during the pandemic were labelled as \u201enot fair\u201c by watchdog organizations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, most controversies arose around conducting the presidential election at the peak of the pandemic. The first unsuccessful attempt to organize an exclusive postal vote on May 10 has so far cost taxpayers about 70 million PLN (\u20ac15,5 million). The second ballot could finally take place in summer but the campaign was labelled not fair by watchdog organizations, accusing the incumbent president of embarking on hate rhetoric, exercising the unfair advantage of his office and, most importantly, utilizing the public media for biased and imbalanced reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vote itself did also not go all smoothly, especially for voters abroad who reported cases of postal ballots being lost or delivered too late. As a result, the Supreme Court received almost 6000 electoral protests, of which some were considered legitimate, yet insignificant for the outcome of the election. In the end, after a brutal campaign in extreme circumstances, Andrzej Duda won the election by less than 500,000 votes and kept the office, petrifying the rule of the United Right in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland remains relatively safe \u2013 but tormented and very divided<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Six months after the outbreak of COVID-19, Poland remains relatively safe in terms of public health during a pandemic, but is tormented and very divided. The power wrestling within the governing coalition has led the ambitious Minister of Justice to wage a cultural war against liberal western values, most prominently visible in the latest crusade against LGBT rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the background, a battle for animal rights and safe abortion continues and, similar to other countries, a conspiracy anti-COVID movement gains traction.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The turmoil on the streets and the impudence of the junior coalition partners flexing their muscles made the Law and Justice party embark on the reconstruction of government, reducing a few ressorts. The gravity of the situation is best illustrated by Jaros\u0142aw Kaczynski taking the position of Deputy Prime Minister, an upgrade he was previously refusing, fully satisfied with pulling the strings from the back seat as a regular MP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum up, the outbreak of COVID-19 has visibly affected the Polish economy and public health, just like it was the case elsewhere. Nevertheless, the societal and political consequences of the sudden pandemic are more severe. The turmoil of failed postal elections and the controversies over the final ballot, the power struggle within the coalition as well as the subsequent tightening grip on political power by Jaros\u0142aw Kaczynski, the polarization of public opinion and ambivalent moods within the Polish society, and finally the fatigue with restrictions and an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty can only possibly portend a stormy 2021 \u2013 year two of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author<\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Dr. Maria Sk\u00f3ra<\/a><\/h4>
Policy Fellow<\/div>
<\/use> <\/svg><\/a> <\/div><\/div>
Maria Sk\u00f3ra is a policy fellow at Das Progressive Zentrum. Previously, she was Research Associate at the Institut f\u00fcr Europ\u00e4ische Politik and head of the International Dialogue program at Das Progressive Zentrum.<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>
\n

Further articles<\/h3>\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/div>

Buried Villages, Fragile Democracies: Coal, Community, and the Unsteady Politics of the Climate Transition<\/a><\/h4>
Posted on<\/span>
The transition away from fossil fuels is as much about democratic resilience as it is about energy. Steve Patterson explores the \u201cpolitical whiplash\u201d of shifting national policies and the enduring struggle to protect community heritage from the erosion of both physical landscapes and institutional norms.<\/div>
Steve Patterson<\/a><\/div>
Debate<\/a>, Project Report<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

How can the new special fund and the reform of the debt brake achieve optimal effectiveness?<\/a><\/h4>
Posted on<\/span>
The CDU\/CSU and SPD parties have reached an agreement in the exploratory talks at a remarkable speed to create a special fund for infrastructure and to provide a far-reaching opportunity to increase defense spending beyond the limits of the debt brake. How should these proposals be assessed? What needs to be considered for the sustainable success of this modernization agenda? These questions were discussed on March 7, 2025, in a background roundtable with experts.<\/div>
Sebastian Pieper<\/a><\/div>
Event Report<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Slider:<\/a><\/div>

Friedrich Merz shattered a political taboo. This is a chance for the centre-left in Germany<\/a><\/h4>
Posted on<\/span>
Progressive parties swiftly need to turn the dial, Florian Ranft states in The Guardian. The attention needs to be moved from simply despising the enemies of democracy to what people really expect.<\/div>
Florian Ranft<\/a><\/div>
In the Media<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
To the blog<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Effects of COVID-19 on the Anyway Turmoiled Poland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[272,39,136,196],"class_list":["post-3798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-hausblog","tag-corona-society","tag-liberale-demokratie","tag-wehrhafte-demokratie-international"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Very Political Virus - Das Progressive Zentrum - EN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Very Political Virus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Effects of COVID-19 on the Anyway Turmoiled Poland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Das Progressive Zentrum - EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-08T11:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-15T08:13:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"redaktion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"redaktion\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/\",\"name\":\"A Very Political Virus - Das Progressive Zentrum - EN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-08T11:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-15T08:13:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e27b95a46bd377aa62f18d990472a06\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Very Political Virus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Das Progressive Zentrum - EN\",\"description\":\"Renewing the Promise of Progress.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e27b95a46bd377aa62f18d990472a06\",\"name\":\"redaktion\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f660c32e487e30081297076c298d7a48?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f660c32e487e30081297076c298d7a48?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"redaktion\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/author\/redaktion\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Very Political Virus - Das Progressive Zentrum - EN","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Very Political Virus","og_description":"The Effects of COVID-19 on the Anyway Turmoiled Poland","og_url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/","og_site_name":"Das Progressive Zentrum - EN","article_published_time":"2020-10-08T11:46:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-15T08:13:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"redaktion","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"redaktion","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/","name":"A Very Political Virus - Das Progressive Zentrum - EN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png","datePublished":"2020-10-08T11:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-15T08:13:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e27b95a46bd377aa62f18d990472a06"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/Corona-Blog-Design-2.png","width":1400,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/a-very-political-virus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Very Political Virus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/","name":"Das Progressive Zentrum - EN","description":"Renewing the Promise of Progress.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e27b95a46bd377aa62f18d990472a06","name":"redaktion","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f660c32e487e30081297076c298d7a48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f660c32e487e30081297076c298d7a48?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"redaktion"},"url":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/author\/redaktion\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3798"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11323,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3798\/revisions\/11323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.progressives-zentrum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}