Piotr Roman, the strongest candidate in this campaign, has already complained in his second interview about the brutal arson attack that affected him four years ago. Admittedly, as he adds, the neighbor’s door was set on fire by mistake, but it was Roman who was threatened that something would happen to him if he decided to run for office at the time.
In his interview with Alicja Burchardt-Kubów, the president concludes the conversation with this revelation. In his interview with Daniel Biernat, he begins his presentation of the program with it. Alicja anxiously asked the president whether he was afraid of the campaign. He replied that he had already heard threats from people associated with the current opposition. He was told about a campaign based on personal attacks and sophisticated provocations; a brutal confrontation was announced. Daniel therefore began his interview by asking about the compromising material being prepared by the opponents. He suggested that all the candidates might be like helpless little sheep staring at furious dogs from the campaign headquarters, eager to tear their opponent apart.
The picture of the campaign painted by the president has brutal arson attacks and the spilling of innocent blood in the background. Where does this rhetoric come from, and what is it all for? If only Dariusz Kwaśniewski or Dariusz Jancelewicz (the Ziemia Bolesławiecka candidate) looked like Azja Tuchajbej. But these are two elegant, mild-looking men. In appearance, they differ in no way from the president. Could it be that they are keeping bloodthirsty hordes of campaign staff in the basement?!
Or perhaps that is precisely the point: the main candidates, Roman and Kwaśniewski, are not different from one another? We can argue about which of them is more handsome or more masculine. But when it comes to their programs, potential, and preparation for exercising power, there are no fundamental differences. I would even risk saying that if Kwaśniewski put on glasses, shaved off his mustache, and sat in the Azart-Sat studio to explain what investments he would carry out in the city, most television viewers would not notice that the president had changed.
The differences in the two candidates’ ideas for managing Bolesławiec are nuances. The president quickly presented himself as someone who obtains huge sums from the European Union for investments, because Kwaśniewski is a specialist in this field. Both care about the economic zone and housing for the people of Bolesławiec. The opposition’s accusations against the current president are weak. Piotr Roman treats them like the demands of a spoiled child. The interviews with the president are also designed to serve this purpose through special dramaturgy. The hosts have to play the role of foolish opposition members who ask Piotr Roman about obvious facts. The president then explains to them, as if they were children, where they are mistaken. Both Ms. Burchard-Kubów and Mr. Biernat deserve an Oscar in these roles.
That is why one strategy, if not the only one, is to fight on emotions. Who is the better person and who is worse. Who is capable of setting the opponent’s house on fire and who trembles with fear that it will happen again. But despite the danger, despite his concern for his family, President Piotr Roman will run. Because… Bolesławiec is the most important thing?!
To me, this is a clear message. Roman’s campaign will not be substantive. It will be emotional. A battle over programs would not only be boring from a media perspective, as the president emphasizes when speaking of his aversion to fruitless debates; it would also level the chances of his main rival too much. Instead, we get rhetoric depicting a treacherous aggressor who strikes like a forest viper, suddenly and mercilessly. Roman the victim asks the electorate for support—in other words, for their votes.
I do not buy any of this. As a voter, I would prefer Roman to be substantively strong. An effective politician who would have to face the equally strong candidate Kwaśniewski, making his debut in presidential elections. Let them engage in an equal contest and get to know each other through it. Let them challenge not only their opponent’s views but also their own perceptions and convictions. Let them be sharp, clever, strong in their arguments and in rebutting them. Let them create new scenarios depending on how events unfold. Let it be a good role-playing game worthy of the 21st century. I want neither a game of chess nor the slaughter of innocent Christians from the beginnings of our era. We need personalities in the office of our city’s president. That personality is forged precisely in an electoral contest. That is what a campaign is for. Let it serve that purpose.
Grażyna Hanaf