Sovereign Poland

Last updated

Sovereign Poland
Suwerenna Polska
Leader Zbigniew Ziobro
Secretary-GeneralAndrzej Dera
Founded24 March 2012
Split from Law and Justice
Youth wing The New Generation (Polish: Nowe Pokolenie)
Ideology
Political position Right-wing to far-right
Religion Roman Catholicism
National affiliation United Right
European affiliation Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy (2011–2015)
European Parliament group Europe of Freedom and Democracy (2012–2014)
European Conservatives and Reformists (since 2019)
Colours
  •   Blue (until 2023)
  •   Red
Sejm
18 / 460
Senate
1 / 100
European Parliament
2 / 52
City Presidents
0 / 107
Regional assemblies
20 / 552
Website
suwerennapolska.pl

Sovereign Poland (Polish : Suwerenna Polska, SP), also known as United Poland [6] [7] [8] [9] (Polish : Solidarna Polska; alternatively translated to Solidarity Poland), [10] [11] until 2023, is a Catholic-nationalist political party in Poland led by Zbigniew Ziobro. It was founded in 2012, as the Catholic-nationalist split from the Law and Justice, with whom they later formed the United Right alliance in 2014.

Contents

Ideology

The party has been described as national-conservative, [12] nationalist, [2] and Catholic-nationalist. [6] [13] [14] It is also staunchly socially conservative. [3] [5] [4] It is opposed to abortion and euthanasia, and supports extending maternity leave to nine months. [15] It is eurosceptic, [7] [16] Anti-LGBT [17] and its staunch opposition to same-sex marriage was cited as a main reason it left the ECR group in the European Parliament in 2012. [18] It has also been described as right-wing populist mainly due to their opposition to immigration. [19] It has been described as right-wing [20] [21] [22] and far-right. [23] [24] [25] [26]

In its 2013 program, United Poland called for the government intervention in the economy, especially tax policy. [27] The party has called for a 'fat cat' tax on big companies, including supermarkets, and backs higher taxes on those who earn over 10,000 złotych (€2,400) a month. [15]

In 2022, United Poland called for tougher blasphemy laws in Poland, such as three-year jail terms for insulting church or interrupting Mass. [28]

History

After Ziobro and fellow MEPs Tadeusz Cymański and Jacek Kurski were ejected from PiS for disloyalty on 4 November 2011, [15] Ziobro's supporters within PiS formed a new group in the Sejm. [29] Despite claims that the new group was not attempting to form a new party, the MPs were expelled from Law and Justice. [30] The party was founded in 2012 by Law and Justice (PiS) MEP Zbigniew Ziobro, who led the party's conservative Catholic-nationalist faction. [31]

In 2012, their MEPs left the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) to join the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group in opposition to the ECR's more liberal stance on gay marriage, its support for the EU's climate change policy, and its advocacy of cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy. [18]

The party was officially launched on 24 March 2012. At the time, opinion polls put the party just around 2%. [15] In a 2020 poll, it found that if the party ran independent from the United Right it would gain 5.4% votes. [32]

Representatives

Members of the Sejm

Member of the Senate

Members of the European Parliament

Election results

Sejm

Leader: Zbigniew Ziobro Vice-Leaders: Beata Kempa Michal Wos Michal Wojcik Secretary: Piotr Cieplucha Chairman of the General Council: Edward Siarka

Election yearLeader# of
votes
 % of
vote
# of
overall seats won
+/–Government
2015 Zbigniew Ziobro 5,711,687 [lower-alpha 1] 37.6 [lower-alpha 2] (#1)
8 / 460
PiS
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 235 seats in total. [33]
2019 8,051,935 [lower-alpha 3] 43.6 [lower-alpha 4] (#1)
10 / 460
Increase2.svg 2 PiS
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 235 seats in total.
2023 7,640,854 [lower-alpha 5] 35.4 [lower-alpha 6] (#1)
18 / 460
Increase2.svg 8 KOPL2050KPNL
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 194 seats in total.

Senate

Election year# of
overall seats won
+/–
2015
2 / 100
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 61 seats in total.
2019
2 / 100
Steady2.svg 0
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 48 seats in total.
2023
1 / 100
Decrease2.svg 1
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 34 seats in total.

Presidential

Election yearCandidate1st round2nd round
# of overall votes % of overall vote# of overall votes % of overall vote
2015 Supported Andrzej Duda 5,179,09234.8 (#1)8,719,28151.5 (#1)
2020 Supported Andrzej Duda 8,450,51343.50 (#1)10,440,64851.03% (#1)

European Parliament

Election year# of
votes
 % of
vote
# of
overall seats won
+/–
2014 281,0793.98 (#6)
0 / 51
2019 6,192,780 [lower-alpha 7] 45.38 (#1) [lower-alpha 8]
2 / 52
Increase2.svg 1
As part of the United Right coalition, which won 27 seats in total.

Notes

  1. Got 277,622 votes
  2. Got 1.83%
  3. 331,467
  4. 1.79%
  5. 465,024
  6. 2.15%
  7. 289,536
  8. 2.12%

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References

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