Compared to the heroes of the Olympic Committee, the head of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, even seems to be an exaggerated figure. However, “Protective Colours” docent Jakub Szelestowski was less opportunistic and a the ruthless careerist Lutek Danielak from “Wodzirej” probably had more qualms. And certainly more charm.
It is impossible to tell the story of Piesiewicz without the party of Jarosław Kaczyński, but it is possible to tell the story of PiS with the career of Piesiewicz
The scene in which Piesiewicz first appeared before the general public is already cinematic. In 2019, after the Polish national basketball team’s victory over China in the World Cup, he burst into the locker room shouting: “I’m sick of this…!!! Bravo, guys, I love you. Damn it.” It’s hard to believe, but it wasn’t his most spectacular feat.
“Polityka” described how the president created a closed system in Polish basketball. Not only did he simultaneously manage the Polish Basketball Association and the Polish Basketball League, which is prohibited by law (he received a salary from both institutions, of course), not only did he receive commissions from the sponsorship contracts he signed, but he also made the clubs dependent on money from state-owned companies in other countries. If he wanted to, he would be the president of everything in Polish basketball until the end of the world. Or at least until the end of the world, according to PiS.
This note is essential. It is impossible to tell the story of Piesiewicz without the party of Jarosław Kaczyński, but the story of Jarosław Kaczyński’s party can be told through the career of Piesiewicz. We are talking about the archetype of a PiS activist of recent years who is where he is and who he is because he knows that it will bring him the most return.
Piesiewicz told “Rzeczpospolita” that it started with the late Unia Wolności (as well as Duda and Gliński), he knew Prof. Bronisław Geremek and boasted about his cooperation with Józef Oleksy. However, his promoter was the former Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin. He installed him in the Wołomin City Hall, which cost the residents of Wołomin PLN 170,000. PLN for two years. To be clear: by PiS standards, this is something minor, in fact there is nothing to mention. I also notice that there were many advisors and consultants in public institutions with fictitious jobs, but the vast majority did not have a career.
Piesiewicz, however, became a star of the first magnitude. No president of the Polish Olympic Committee since 1989 has had the idea of putting our medal hopes on the cover of anything before the games, promoting himself in traditional and social media during the games, and just before extinguishing the torch saying that “the Polish Olympic Committee is not responsible for the preparation of the athletes.” This feat alone is worth an Olympic medal, but last week showed that the president has no intention of stopping, I assume that we are just watching the beginning of a brilliant career.
When I hear on Radio Zet that since April 2023, the President and his family have used VIP check-in at Warsaw Chopin Airport up to 35 times, when I read in Onet that the president’s wife earned PLN 1,150,000 for a few months of work at the state bank Pekao SA. zloty. (the scope of duties was not included in the contract), when I see Piesiewicz on TVN, comparing himself to Paweł Adamowicz, I think I see today the solution to Jarosław Kaczyński’s biggest problem.
Mr President, please leave Mariusz Błaszczak, Patryk Jaki, Zbigniew Bogucki and Karol Nawrocki. If we want to put forward a true PiS member, someone who is true to the ideals of PiS, in the presidential elections, we will not find a better candidate than Radosław Piesiewicz.
