Polish politics have been鈥攖o put it mildly鈥攔ather contentious as of late. The Law and Justice Party (PiS) was swept into power in 2015 ending eight years of political domination by the classic liberal-oriented Civic Platform Party, and PiS has since governed with a determination to remake the country in its own conservative-populist image.
Not unexpectedly the center-left European Union administrative bodies in Brussels and various rights watchdog groups have expressed concerns over PiS鈥� various moves, including efforts seen to consolidate power on the Constitutional Court and clamp down on the media.
But beyond Poland鈥檚 energetic policy divides and disputes, there lurks an intriguing informal political structure in which the country鈥檚 real power lies not with the country鈥檚 President and Prime Minister, but with Jaros艂aw Kazcynski, the Chairman of PiS鈥攁nd the twin brother of former President Lech Kaczynski who鈥攚ith his wife, and dozens of officials鈥攚ere tragically killed when the president鈥檚 plane crashed on the way to a ceremony honoring thousands of Polish army officers who were murdered by the Soviets in World War II. Though deceased, the former president鈥檚 world view is very much alive in his brother, Jaros艂aw, a mere MP, but also the chairman of the country鈥檚 ruling political party. Indeed, so powerful is the party chairman that he has indeed inspired an amusing satire that questions just who governs Poland.
(Ucho Prezesa) is the brainchild of Robert Gorski, the leader of the Warsaw comedy troupe Cabaret of Moral Anxiety (Kabaretu Moralnego Niepokoju). Originally available only on YouTube, its first four episodes were such a hit that the Showmax picked it up, and began to provide partial financing. It is still a low-budget operation with only two sets鈥攖he chairman鈥檚 office and the outer reception area鈥攖o be used as the backdrop for the first season鈥檚 sixteen episodes that run nine to nineteen minutes each.
The satire is thinly veiled: the characters bear the same first names of their targets, but only sometimes look like them. At the center is the chairman, or Jaros艂aw Kaczynski鈥攁 fussy fellow who shows little interest in women but is preoccupied with his cat. He has neither interest in nor comprehension of modern technology, and his every whim is attended to by his sycophantic, shiny suit-wearing right hand man鈥攁 caricature of Poland鈥檚 Interior Minister Mariusz B艂aszczak. For the chairman, Poland is the center of everything; his office globe has only a large Poland on it.
While the chairman comes in for plenty of ridicule, it is President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szyd艂o who are the target of some of the sharpest criticism. In one amusing scene, the president and prime minister sit outside the chairman鈥檚 office and reminisce about the days of the campaign when they were important and lauded. Now they can only sit outside his office and await his instructions.
Indeed, the president is always waiting outside the chairman鈥檚 office and is forever unable to get an audience with him. The office receptionist can never remember his name and half of the visitors who pass through the reception area don鈥檛 recognize him.
Prime Minister Szyd艂o鈥檚 character makes far fewer appearances, but is depicted as a woman completely lacking a spine and incapable of executing the duties of her office without assistance from the chairman. The Marshal of the Sejm is likewise represented as a sniveling underling unable to do much of anything without the advice of the chairman. On the other hand, Defense Minister and Deputy Leader of PiS Antoni Macierewicz is shown to be nigh near untouchable. Even the chairman is afraid of him.
One can certainly argue with the characterizations in the popular show, but The Chairman鈥檚 Ear has quickly become what many believe accurately portrays the machinery of contemporary Polish politics and its relationships domestically and within the European arena. The writers鈥� portrayal of the animosity between Chairman Kazcynski and Poland鈥檚 former Prime Minister Donald Tusk鈥攏ow the President of the EU Commission鈥攚as particularly adroit at illuminating the intertwined tensions between the two as it spilled over in the spring of 2017. The skits quickly addressed issues as they emerged, poking fun at PiS鈥� proclivity for getting into traffic accidents; the foreign minister鈥檚 seeming obsession with diminishing his predecessor Radek Sikorski; and, the excessive trust that Defense Minister Macierewicz placed in an underqualified but.
For a non-Polish audience that doesn鈥檛 follow the ins and outs of the country鈥檚 politics, most of the jokes and satire will escape them. Yet even without specialized knowledge, The Chairman鈥檚 Ear is a well told story that highlights the all too frequent absurdity of political relationships.