Despite acres of news print and hours of airtime Libertas have failed to make an impression in Poland at barely 2% in latest poll

The fact that Libertas are polling terribly in Poland despite having vast amounts of TV time from the corrupt LPF TVP channel means that their plan to have any significant number of MEPs afetr the June elections is over. Poland has rejected the xenophobic fascism of the own League of Polish Families and have also rejected the anti Polish stance of Libertas in Ireland who want to close the borders to Polish workers,

Civic Platform well ahead in EP opinion poll

27.05.2009 12:2

According to the latest opinion poll, the ruling Civic Platform will gain almost half of all votes cast in the European parliamentary elections on June 7, while Libertas has failed to interest voters.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform is way ahead of the opposition Law and Justice party, according to the poll by PBS DGA.

If the European Parliament elections took place today, Civic Platform would win with 47 percent support, the opposition Law and Justice party would come in second with 25 percent of votes. The Democratic Left Alliance would gain 10 percent support and the Polish Peasant’s Party – the junior coalition party in the current government - would secure nine percent.

The smaller parties are failing to capture voters’ imagination. With the Self Defence party on three percent, Polish Labour Party on two percent, the Real Politics Union one percent, Polish Right party and the Centre-Left party on less than one percent, all would fall under electoral threshold and fail to gain any seats in the European Parliament under Poland’s proportional representation system..

And despite acres of news print and hours of airtime over the past few weeks on Polish media, the anti-Lisbon Treaty Libertas party has made little headway with voters, with just two percent of respondents saying they will vote for them on polling day.

“The survey proves that a low turnout will help the bigger parties like Civic Platform and the Democratic Left Alliance,” Marcin Splawski from PBS DGA pollsters told Gazeta Wyborcza.

The survey was conducted on 22 to 24 May among a sample of 1063.

Turnout in the last European parliamentary elections in Poland, in 2004 – just weeks after the nation joined the EU – was just 20 percent. (mg/pg)

Double Standards? Libertas should publish Rivada Networks office accounts

Libertas has called on the Polish member of the EU Commission to release her phone records to demonstrate that her mobile official phone was not used in her EU Parliament election campaign

In last year’s Lisbon Treaty referendum. Libertas had the same staff, the same HQ, the same phone number & the same fax number as Rivada, the US defense contractor with which the Libertas head, Declan Ganley is connected.

Declan Ganley could demonstrate his commitment to openness & transparency by releasing the office accounts of Rivada for independent audit to establish whether the US company through its Irish subsidiary was improperly funding Libertas by way of staff, office and other overhead support.

Irish Libertas wants to dispose of Poles while tens of thousands of Irish living and working in other EU countries would have to return home.

Libertas are discovering that in the media age racist issues raised in one country on Friday are quickly reported in others . Today's Gazeta Wyborcza has a blistering article pointing out the stupid racist notions of Libertas that would also mean that

Instead of the freedom of working Libertasu candidates would like to introduce a "blue card" which will allow EU citizens to work in their country not for two years, but without access to unemployment benefits and other social assistance.

Candidates from other party immediately criticized Libertas, noting that in the event of the introduction of such rules (Libertas's Blue Card scheme), tens of thousands of Irish living and working in other EU countries would have to return home.

Google translate English Version

Irish Libertas wants to dispose of Poles

Libertas wants to dispose of Poles

Dominika Pszczółkowska, Bruksela Pszczółkowska Dominica, Brussels

Lech Walesa recieved 100,000 to appear at Libertas Rome rally

According to Libertas in Poland Lech was paid 100k to apear at the Libertas conference in Rome.

Libertas: Wałęsa took 100 thousand Euro

2009-05-09, author mzamojski , translator oskarinio

Former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa is supposed to take 100 thousand Euro for coming to Rome's euroskeptical party Libertas congress. However there is no certainty that a legendary hero of "Solidarność" did it only for money.

Wałęsa made a speach that prasied the party and only sometimes he made a poit that he did not agree with everything that party has to offer. After his return he was attacked by other politicians and media and esspecialy by European Parliament MP Ryszard Czanecki, who said that Wałęsa had done it for money. Former President did not deny it and said that 50 thousand Euro was not enough to lure him to the Congress. According to Polsih Libertas members Wałęsa took 100 thousand Euro. However there are still controversies concerning if Lech Wałęsa supports Libertas or not.

Finacial Times on Ganley

When Ganley interns decided to promote an article in yesterday's Financial Times they obviously neglected to read it.

Oh, a whole article about #Libertas and I in the Financial Times! http://twitclicks.com/t9loabout 13 hours ago from web http://twitter.com/declanganley

Ganley is obviously suffering from paying a mere 700 euro per month month to his spam army.

Ireland's No vote dissenter spreads horizons

By Joshua Chaffin in Brussels

Published: April 23 2009 03:00 | Last updated: April 23 2009 03:00

Declan Ganley almost single-handedly brought further European Union integration to a halt when he led a shrewd - some would say disingenuous - campaign against the Lisbon treaty in last year's Irish referendum.

Now, as the European parliament elections approach, Mr Ganley is trying to spin that campaign into a broad-based political movement.

He has vowed to field candidates this June in all 27 member states under the banner of Libertas, a party that calls itself a "pan-European movement dedicated to creating a new, democratic and open European Union, from the ground up".

Its target: the faceless officials running Europe from Brussels. Last month, as European heads of state gathered for yet another Brussels summit on the econ-omic crisis, Mr Ganley was putting on a show of his own just down the street.

"We don't know who these people are, what they look like," he recently told journalists. As heads of state met, he accused officials of contempt for democracy. "Do we need a thousand meetings a month? What are they meeting about?"

Libertas is particularly optimistic about its prospects in the Czech Republic. It recently recruited two members of the ODS (Civic Democratic) party who voted to bring down the Czech government in the midst of its first EU presidency. Opinion polls beg to differ.

"They don't register at all," said Simon Hix, professor of European politics at the London School of Econ-omics, who predicted that Libertas would not win a single seat in June. It is still early in the campaign, however, and Mr Ganley has already demonstrated the dangers of underestimating him.

Libertas is spicing up an election that has typically suffered from voter apathy. A recent debate between Mr Ganley and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the Green party MEP and student hero of 1968, filled a Brussels hotel ballroom to overflowing.

Mr Ganley tried to use the encounter to cast himself as the reluctant politician - the businessman thrust into public service to rescue a foundering democracy. He also insisted he was "enthusiastic for the European idea"; he just wanted the EU to work better.

But any hopes for a substantive debate were dashed when Mr Ganley revived allegations of paedophilia based on episodes described in Mr Cohn-Bendit's memoirs, Le grand bazar . Mr CohnBendit has always rejected the claims as ridiculous.

Mr Ganley was forced to defend himself against allegations that Libertas had consorted with racists. There were also questions about his business dealings: he made a fortune in aluminium in the former Soviet Union before moving on to US defence contracting.

Yet perhaps the biggest problem facing Libertas is that, in the midst of a deep economic crisis, voters are more worried about job security than institutional reform in Brussels.

"I think that's where he falls down," says Glenis Willmott, leader of the Labour party in the European parliament. Ms Willmott predicts Libertas will help to fragment the anti-Europe vote in the UK.

The performance of fringe parties is emerging ascrucial to the election. Irish voters, having seen their econ-omic miracle crumble, now seem more inclined to seek shelter under the broad roof of Europe than when they rejected the Lisbon treaty.

Mr Ganley says Libertas is "about much more than the issues of the Lisbon treaty".

So far he has presented few specific policies beyond calling for a €10bn ($13bn, £9bn) cut in the EU's annual budget and promises to encourage small business. Libertas has yet to release a detailed manifesto.

Mr Ganley is banking on an Obama-inspired campaign website to raise money and unleash a grassroots -movement.

"Whether or not Brussels recognises Libertas is the least of my concerns," he said. "We're coming - whether they like it or not."

It's Official Libertas ally with the Far Right in Poland

Its official Libertas far right connections confirmed. furthermore as support for his allies has collapsed Ganley is reported to be funding the whole campaign personally. This is technically illegal in Poland but it is likely that the loophole exposed by this blogger will be utilised whereby Ganley will guarantee loans that the Polish Liberats will take out and then after the elections deliberately default on. This will allow Ganley to pay the loans off without it appearing that he technically funded the actual elections.
Slippery and lacking in Transparency Yes. Straight up and clean politics No
Polskie Radio reports today
Libetas have been trying to persuade German, Spanish and Dutch political activist that they are not in league with the far right. they had previously recruited from the ranks of the LPF. The truth is out now.

Libertas allies with fringe right wing in Poland

The Polish branch of the anti-Lisbon Treaty Libertas Party, and two small far-right parties, will draw up a common list of candidates for June’s election for the European Parliament.

Libertas Polska will be supported by the League of Polish Families (LPR) – a junior coalition partner in the 2006-2007 government, and Naprzod Polsko-Piast a small party created by former MPs from LPR and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL).

Two incumbent MEPs from the Union for Europe of the Nations Group will also strive for re-election from the list: Dariusz Grabowski and Zdzislaw Podkanski.

“We love Europe and we want a better European Union, without the sinister Treaty of Lisbon,” deputy leader of Libertas Polska, Artur Zawisza told Gazeta Wyborcza.

Leader of Liberas, Irish millionaire Declan Ganley, declared that he wants the elections to the European Parliament to be a referendum against the “anti-democratic Brussels and Treaty of Lisbon”. Ganley led the successful “No” campaign against the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland last year.

Election funding

The election campaign in Poland will be financed by Declan Ganley himself, as current support for LPR and other fringe parties on the right wing of Polish politics have little support within the country and would consequently struggle to meet the costs themselves.

Though European election law insists that campaign funds must come from within the relevant nations, Ganley will secure loans taken out in Poland, so finding a way around the rule, it was revealed late last month. Libertas Polska will then default on the loans, forcing banks to seek recompense from Ganley himself.

Vice President Artur Zawisza was quoted in the Polityka weekly, March 28, as saying: ""The most important thing for banks is to assess the creditworthiness and the collateral. I know they consulted with Mr. Declan Ganley." (jg/pg)

Libertas deny that Ganley is funding Polish campaign. Polish daily Dziennik says story is true and confirmed by mulitple Libertas Poland sources

Lying Libertas Lie Again

This blog broke the story in the English language on Saturday morning at 6.15am. See here

The Irish Times has an interesting follow up in today's paper.

Sadly we are faced with yet another denial by one Libertas spokesperson in the face of other Livberats sources confirming the story.
Ganley's personal spokesperson John McGuirk says

Mr Ganley was not giving such guarantees. “ was asked a hypothetical question and he gave an answer he shouldn’t have,” said Mr McGuirk. “He answered it in a stupid manner, to be honest."

However the story is confirmed by several sources within Libertas Poland including one of its Vice Presidents Artur Zawisza who said "The most important thing for banks is to assess the creditworthiness and the collateral. I know they consulted with Mr. Declan Ganleyem" - when asked about the source of funding election campaigns.

So who is lying Libertas Ireland or Libetas Poland?

Irish Times
Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Libertas denies Ganley is funding Polish campaign

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin and COLM KEENA Public Affairs Correspondent

LIBERTAS HAS denied reports that founder Declan Ganley will in effect personally bankroll the European election campaign of its newly founded Polish branch by guaranteeing bank loans for the party.

The Polish daily Dziennik at the weekend reported assertions from a Libertas Polska party source that the party hoped to raise a loan of €250,000 on the basis of guarantees from Mr Ganley.

Such a loan guarantee, although legal, would effectively circumvent Polish legislation that bans foreign funding of Polish domestic politics, and the suggestion has prompted a heated reaction in the country.

Libertas spokesman John McGuirk insisted yesterday, however, that Mr Ganley was not giving such guarantees. “ was asked a hypothetical question and he gave an answer he shouldn’t have,” said Mr McGuirk. “He answered it in a stupid manner, to be honest.”

Dziennik stood by its story yesterday, citing confirmation of the plan from several sources within the party.

Libertas insists it is financing its campaign to field candidates EU-wide in the June European elections through donations and fundraising.

History has left Poles acutely sensitive to foreign influence on domestic politics and the Libertas report has prompted concern that it could set a dangerous precedent in Polish politics.

“Today it’s Irish money, tomorrow will it be Russian money?” asked Dziennik opinion editor Michal Karnowksi.

“It’s a trick to get the money they cannot accept directly from abroad. It was obvious that Libertas Polska had no money of their own and that Ganley was going to give money, the question until now was just how he was going to do it.”

The Polish election commission, which can examine party financing only in the aftermath of an election, has, however, said campaign loans guaranteed by non-Polish citizens are legitimate. Leading figures in Poland’s ruling Civic Platform (PO) party called it “unsettling” for a party to “get money for elections from a person prohibited by law to do so”.

“This means to circumvent the existing rules,” said Zbigniew Chlebowski, PO parliamentary leader.

Dziennik claims that Libertas Polska will have access to €250,000, as will the Libertas party in Slovakia.

Libertas in Latvia, the newspaper claimed, would have funding of €100,000.

Mr Ganley says Libertas drew down €200,000 during last year’s Lisbon campaign in Ireland from a credit facility he put in place. Today is the deadline for Libertas to submit bank account statements for donations and a document certifying all donations received to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO).

Dominika Pszczolkowska is a Polish journalist and Brussels correspondent for Gazeta Wyborcza see her blog Declan Ganley to finance anti-Lisbon campaign in Poland

Declan Ganley will finance the anti-Lisbon campaign in Poland. His allies, who have no money, claim he will guarantee their loan and repay if himself after the election.

As "Gazeta Wyborcza" reports, the Libertas crowd in Poland have found a legal loophole to get financing from abroad. Daniel Pawłowiec, one of the Polish Libertas activists told "Gazeta" Mr. Ganley will guarantee a loan they will take. Another anonymous activist told "Dziennik" daily that the loan would be repaid by Mr. Ganley after the election.

Polish TV presenters get "Irish Disease" as 3 top presenters get "ill", "in disgust" at Libertas coverage on TVP

Hanna Lis Polish TV News presenter out sick in disgust
at Libertas and Ganley's promotion by her far right boss LPF's Piotra Farfała.

Kraški Peter joined Hanna Lis and Jaroslaw Kulczycki to stay home in what one news sources calls an attack of an "Irish disease". TVP boss, Piotra Farfała, is in hot water over his corrupt promotion of Declan Ganley on Polish TV. According to unofficial sources at headquarters of TVP "News" after the interview with Ganleyem among the lead "Theme of the day" remained "strong disgust".
Mutinous News Crew

A mysterious epidemic attacked the stars of TV. "Irish Disease" hits News staff

Support TVP staff in their stand against their far right boss.

Piotra Farfała is a member of the League of Polish Families and has been associated with their youth wing of the far right Polish Youth League

The modern incarnation of the All-Polish Youth was founded in Poznań in 1989, on the initiative of Roman Giertych, the former leader of the League of Polish Families (LPR). Continuing the tradition of its precursors, the organisation maintains its aim of raising youth with their ideology, and operates across all of Poland, working with high-school and university students. The membership of the organisation is approximately 3,000 people.

In 2006 the office of the Polish public prosecutor has launched an investigation after video recording from a private party in which All-Polish Youth members including Leokadia Wiącek, a personal assistant of Maciej Giertych (member of the European Parliament), were seen fraternizing with Neo-Nazi skinheads, listening to Neo-Nazi bands and saluting the swastika, was leaked to Polish press^[6][7][8].

These are the people that Declan Ganley recruits in Poland.

see below article in which Marek Edelman, the last living commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising speaks about the Polish Youth League,

‘All-Polish Youth’ Nazi movie generates controversy

Updated: 25/Dec/2006 19:53

Marek Edelman, the last living commander of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper: “All-Polish Youth should have been delegalized years ago. The Prime Minister said that this is a scandal, but he invited Roman Giertych to his government and because of this he doesn’t have clean hands in this case”.

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WARSAW (EJP)--- The office of the Polish public prosecutor has launched an investigation after a movie clip featuring a group of youngsters gathering around a burning swastika and chanting “Sieg Heil” was sent to one of the country’s daily newspapers.

The editors of Dziennik reported on 28 November that they were sent the 60-second-long film portraying the activities of the All-Polish Youth (APY), creating massive controversy around Poland over the group.

All-Polish Youth is a radically nationalist and anti-Semitic organization associated with the League of Polish Families – a right-wing party that is currently in the government coalition.

Polish deputy primer minister and minister of education Roman Giertych is a creator and honorary president of the APY.

Journalists, when watching the movie clip, have recognized Leokadia Wiacek and Pawel Schmidt. Wiącek is currently a personal assistant of MEP Maciej Giertych, father of Polish deputy prime minister and gained notoriety recently for his call to remove evolution theory from Polish schools.

Schmidt was a candidate from the list of Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński’s Low and Justice Party in the municipal elections that took place a month ago. However he was not elected to the Council of the City of Zabrze is southern Poland.

Prison possibility

The public prosecutor general office already started an investigation. According to the Polish Criminal Code propagation and publish showing of Nazi symbols is prohibited and punished even by imprisonment. Prosecutors are now trying to identify as many people from the movie as possible to indict them.

“Stand up and beat this canting Jewish mug / And proudly fight and proudly shout: / For the white race, for the Polish blood! / Without mercy kill it, without scruples beat the evil” – these are words of the song that was played during the “swastika party”.

This is not the first time when Polish media reveal this kind of materials about the All-Polish Youth. It the past all Poles could watch some other short movies or photos depicting similar behavior of this youth.

In October 2005 Polish newspapers have published a photo showing APY members with gestures of “Sieg Heil”. They explained afterwards that they have been calling a waiter in a restaurant.

The Polish Left Alliance, the biggest left-wing party in Poland, announced already that is going to apply to the Supreme Court to delegalize the All-Polish Youth as a fascist organization.

Marek Edelman, the last living commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, who lives in Polish city of Lodz, told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper: “All-Polish Youth should have been delegalized years ago. The Prime Minister said that this is a scandal, but he invited Roman Giertych to his government and because of this he doesn’t have clean hands in this case”.

Libertas implode in Poland

Following this weeks split between the League of Polish families, Libertas have been abandoned by another Polish Polish League of families MEP Sylwester Chruszcz. This is a serious blow to ganley as only a few weeks back they boosted high polls in Poland. All that lies in the ashes now. Chruszcz formally annnouced leaving Libertas on his web page Friady 20 March.

this just published by Dominika Pszczółkowska
Brussels correspondent of Gazeta Wyborcza, the largest Polish quality daily.

piątek, 20 marca 2009

Libertas off to a sorry start in Poland

The anti-Lisbon Treaty group Libertas seems to be falling apart in Poland before it even really began.

Not only did it choose some sorry people for its allies. Now one of them, the Polish member of the European Parliament Sylwester Chruszcz has announced he is quitting.

Libertas, ran by the Irish businessman Declan Ganley ran an extremely effective campaign in Ireland before the June 2008 referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and largely contributed to the Irish ”no”. Now Mr. Ganley wants to field candidates for the June 4-7 European Parliament elections in all EU countries.

At first glance, Poland might have seemed to him like a good hunting ground. But Mr. Ganley has chosen some strange bedfellows. They are politicians who originated from the now largely defunct League of Polish Families. I don't know if Mr. Ganley noticed, but their views are quite distant from his. They are not only against the Lisbon Treaty, but against the EU in general. The League was the only party clearly against Poland's entry into the EU. It seems history has proved them wrong and in the polls they are now within the margin of error of non-existance. They had a charismatic leader, Mr. Roman Giertych, but he has since left politics. I will not go on about the extreme right wing views of some of them on religion, abortion, Jews, immigrants etc.

Anyway Mr. Ganley has been coming to Poland (at least 3 trips, but I might have missed some) to consult with these characters. Recently he registered the Polish Libertas.

Now one of the people he has been talking to, the MEP Sylwester Chruszcz, published a statement on his web page saying he is resigning from Libertas. Why? ”The decision I have made is linked to the lack of a clear political vision of Libertas, as well as divergencies concerning its program”.

Until last year Mr. Chruszcz was the head of the League, but then went on to form another party.

Mr. Chruszcz has a point. One of the weakest sides of Libertas is that it is in fact a single issue group. It has views about what the structures of the EU should look like (or rather, shouldn't look like), but apart from that has no political program. And I am afraid the voters would like to know if the person they are choosing is left or right, green or red, or whatever, and so how they are likely to vote on real issues, as opposed to institutional issues, which have only a very indirect effect on our lives.

I read in the ”Irish Times” that Mr. Ganley is also now trying to distance himself from his unsavoury Polish allies. I'm afraid it's too late, because nobody serious will want to be seen as taking their place now.

The trouble all over Europe is that Mr. Ganley is not succeeding in finding people like himself: anti-Lisbon, but proeuropean, pro-business and with moderate views (or no views) on sticky subjects like abortion, the place of religion etc. Poland seems to be lost to his cause.

See also
http://chruszcz.pl/?sr=!czytaj&id=2272&dz=fakty&x=0&pocz=0