Civic Platform
Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej | |
---|---|
European People's Party | |
Colours |
|
Sejm | 126 / 460 |
Senate | 41 / 100 |
European Parliament | 14 / 52 |
Regional assemblies | 210 / 552 |
City presidents | 40 / 107 |
Website | |
www | |
The Civic Platform (
It was formed in 2001 by splinter factions from the
Initially positioned as a
The party heads the Civic Coalition, which was founded in 2018. Since its creation, it has shown strong electoral performances in Warsaw, the west, and the north of Poland. Since the 2000s, the Civic Platform has established itself as one of the dominant political parties in Poland.
History
The Civic Platform was founded in 2001 as
In the
In 2005, PO led all opinion polls with 26% to 30% of public support. However, in the
The PiS-led coalition fell apart in 2007 amid a corruption scandal involving Andrzej Lepper and Tomasz Lipiec[2] and internal leadership disputes. These events led to new elections, and in the 21 October 2007 parliamentary election PO won 41.51% of the popular vote and 209 out of 460 seats in the Sejm and 60 out of 100 seats in the Senate of Poland. Civic Platform, now the largest party in both houses of parliament, subsequently formed a coalition with the Polish People's Party (PSL).
At the
In November 2010, local elections granted Civic Platform about 30.1 percent of the votes and PiS at 23.2 percent, an increase for the former and a drop for the latter compared to the 2006 elections.[3] PO succeeded in winning four consecutive elections (a record in post-Communist Poland), and Tusk remains as kingmaker. PO's dominance is also a reflection of left-wing weakness and divisions on both sides of the political scene, with PiS suffering a splinter in Autumn 2010.[3] Civic Platform won the plurality of votes in the 9 October 2011 parliamentary election, gaining 39.18% of the popular vote, 207 of 460 seats in the Sejm, and 63 out of 100 seats in the Senate.[4]
In the 2014 European elections, Civic Platform came first place nationally, achieving 32.13% of the vote and returning 19 MEPs.[5] In the 2014 local elections, PO achieved 179 seats, the highest single number.[6] In the 2015 presidential election, PO endorsed Bronisław Komorowski, a former member of PO from 2001 till 2010. He lost the election receiving 48.5% of the popular vote, while Andrzej Duda won with 51.5%.[7]
In the 2015 parliamentary election, PO came in second place, after PiS, achieving 24.09% of the popular vote, 138 out of 460 seats in the Sejm, and 34 out of 100 seats in the Senate.[8] In the 2018 local elections, PO achieved 26.97% of the votes, coming second after PiS.[9] In the 2019 European elections, PO participated in the European Coalition electoral alliance which achieved 38.47%, coming second after PiS.[10] On 1 October 2023, it held The Million Hearts march in Warsaw.[11]
Ideology
The Civic Platform has been mainly described as a
Since 2007, when Civic Platform formed the government, the party has gradually moved from its Christian-democratic stances, and many of its politicians hold more liberal positions on social issues. In 2013, the Civic Platform's government introduced public funding of in vitro fertilization program. Civic Platform also supports civil unions for same-sex couples but is against same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by same-sex couples. The party also currently supports liberalization of the abortion law,[41] which it had opposed while in government.[42]
PO was described as
After becoming the biggest opposition party, the Civic Platform became more
Political support
As of 2020, the party enjoyed the greatest support in large cities and among people with higher education and in managerial positions, while in terms of age, the electorate was evenly distributed,
As of 2016, an overwhelming majority of party's supporters (83%) were Roman Catholics, and 44% of these voters partook in religious practices at least once a week.
As of 2020, most of Civic Platform's electorate identified as
As of 2021, according to
In March 2023, Tusk stated that Silesian should be considered a language rather than an ethnolect as it has unique literature and grammar, and promised to recognize Silesian as an official, statutory language of Upper Silesia.[75][76] Tusk also declared that he was a regionalist.[75]
Leadership
No. | Image | Name | Tenure |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Maciej Płażyński | 18 October 2001– 1 June 2003 | |
2 | Donald Tusk | 1 June 2003– 8 November 2014 | |
3 | Ewa Kopacz | 8 November 2014– 26 January 2016 | |
4 | Grzegorz Schetyna | 26 January 2016– 29 January 2020 | |
5 | Borys Budka | 29 January 2020– 3 July 2021 | |
(2) | Donald Tusk | since 3 July 2021 |
Election results
Sejm
Election year | Leader | # of votes |
% of vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Maciej Płażyński | 1,651,099 | 12.7 (#2) | 65 / 460
|
SLD-UP-PSL (2001-2003) | |
SLD-UP (2003-2005) | ||||||
SLD-UP-SDPL (2004-2005) | ||||||
2005 | Donald Tusk | 2,849,259 | 24.1 (#2) | 133 / 460
|
68 | PiS Minority (2005)
|
(2006-2007) | ||||||
2007 | 6,701,010 | 41.5 (#1) | 209 / 460
|
76 | PO–PSL | |
2011 | 5,629,773 | 39.2 (#1) | 207 / 460
|
2 | PO–PSL | |
2015 | Ewa Kopacz | 3,661,474 | 24.1 (#2) | 138 / 460
|
69 | PiS
|
2019 | Grzegorz Schetyna | 5,060,355 | 27.4 (#2) | 102 / 460
|
36 | PiS
|
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 134 seats in total. | ||||||
2023 | Donald Tusk | 6,629,402 | 30.7 (#2) | 127 / 460
|
25 | KO-PL2050-KP-NL |
As part of Civic Coalition, which won 157 seats in total. |
Senate
Election year | # of votes |
% of vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– | Majority |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 6,582,224 | 24.34 (#2) | 2 / 100
|
SLD–UP | |
As part of the Senate 2001 coalition, which won 15 seats. | |||||
2005 | 4,090,497 | 16.94 (#2) | 34 / 100
|
32 | No majority - PiS largest (2005)
|
(2006-2007) | |||||
2007 | 12,734,742 | 39.14 (#1) | 60 / 100
|
26 | PO |
2011 | 5,173,300 | 35.60 (#1) | 63 / 100
|
3 | PO–PSL |
2015 | 4,323,789 | 28.85 (#2) | 34 / 100
|
29 | PiS
|
2019 | 6,490,306 | 35.66 (#2) | 41 / 100
|
7 | KO–KP–SLD |
As part of the Civic Coalition, which won 43 seats. | |||||
2023 | 6,187,295 | 28.91 (#2) | 41 / 100
|
0 | KO–PL2050–KP–NL–LR |
As part of the Senate Pact 2023, which won 66 seats. |
Presidential
Election year | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
# of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | ||
2005 | Donald Tusk | 5,429,666 | 36.3 (#1) | 7,022,319 | 46.0 (#2) |
2010 | Bronisław Komorowski | 6,981,319 | 41.5 (#1) | 8,933,887 | 53.0 (#1) |
2015 | Supported Bronisław Komorowski | 5,031,060 | 33.8 (#2) | 8,112,311 | 48.5 (#2) |
2020 | Rafał Trzaskowski | 5,917,340 | 30.5 (#2) | 10,018,263 | 48.9 (#2) |
Regional assemblies
Election year | % of vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | 12.1 (#4) | 79 / 561
|
|
In coalition with Law and Justice (POPiS ).
| |||
2006 | 27.2 (#1) | 186 / 561
|
|
2010 | 30.9 (#1) | 222 / 561
|
36 |
2014 | 26.3 (#2) | 179 / 555
|
43 |
2018 | 27.1 (#2) | 194 / 552
|
15 |
As the Civic Coalition. | |||
2024 | 30.6 (#2) | 210 / 552
|
16 |
As the Civic Coalition. |
European Parliament
Election year | # of votes |
% of vote |
# of overall seats won |
+/– |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | 1,467,775 | 24.1 (#1) | 15 / 54
|
|
2009 | 3,271,852 | 44.4 (#1) | 25 / 50
|
10 |
2014 | 2,271,215 | 32.1 (#1) | 19 / 51
|
6 |
2019 | 5,249 935 | 38,47 (#2) | 14 / 51
|
5 |
As the European Coalition. |
Voivodeship Marshals
Name | Image | Voivodeship | Date Vocation |
---|---|---|---|
Elżbieta Polak | Lubusz Voivodeship | 29 November 2010 | |
Marek Woźniak | Greater Poland Voivodeship | 10 October 2005 | |
Piotr Całbecki | Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
|
24 January 2006 | |
Olgierd Geblewicz | West Pomeranian Voivodeship | 7 December 2010 | |
Mieczysław Struk | Pomeranian Voivodeship | 22 February 2010 | |
Andrzej Buła | Opole Voivodeship | 12 November 2013 |
Notable politicians
-
Donald Tusk former Prime Minister of Poland and President of the European Council, leader of European People's Party
-
Minister of Foreign Affairsand leader of Platforma Obywatelska (2016-2020)
-
Marshal of the Senate
-
Mayor of Warsaw
See also
- List of Civic Platform politicians
- Politics of Poland
- List of political parties in Poland
- Liberalism in Poland
Notes
- ^ The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej).
References
- ^ Kozłowski, Marcin (25 December 2022). "Zapytaliśmy partie o to, ilu mają członków. Liderem wciąż PSL, na podium też PiS i PO". wiadomosci.gazeta.pl (in Polish). Gazeta.pl. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
Platforma Obywatelska ma obecnie 23 727 członków (stan na 9 grudnia). Partia odnotowała spory spadek w porównaniu do ubiegłego roku (w lipcu 2021 r. deklarowała 34,1 tys. zarejestrowanych działaczy).
[Civic Platform currently has 23,727 members (as at 9 December). The party has seen a significant decrease compared to last year (in July 2021, it declared 34,100 registered activists).] - ^ "BBC News (2007-10-22): Massive win for Polish opposition". 22 October 2007.
- ^ a b c Warsaw Business Journal Archived 20 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Elections 2011 - Election results". National Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Pkw | Pkw". Pe2014.pkw.gov.pl. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Oficjalne wyniki wyborów samorządowych. Zobacz, kto wygrał". TVN24.pl. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ Jęczmionka, Paulina (11 May 2015). "Oficjalne wyniki wyborów 2015: Bronisław Komorowski wziął Poznań i Wielkopolskę [INFOGRAFIKA]". Gloswielkopolski.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Wybory parlamentarne 2015. PKW podała ostateczne wyniki". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 27 October 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Znamy wyniki wyborów! Relacja na żywo. Wybory samorządowe 2018". www.fakt.pl. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Oficjalne wyniki wyborów do europarlamentu". TVN24.pl. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ Jan Cienski (1 October 2023). "Huge but glum: Poland's opposition puts a million people on the streets". Politico. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ PO has often been described as centrist:
- Szczerbiak, Aleks (2017). "An anti-establishment backlash that shook up the party system? The October 2015 Polish parliamentary election" (PDF). European Politics and Society. 18 (4): 404–427. S2CID 157951515.
- Marcinkiewicz, Kamil; Stegmaier, Mary (8 January 2016). "The parliamentary election in Poland, October 2015" (PDF). .
- Siemsen, Pascal (2020). "Voting PiS: Voting Left when Voting Far-Right Populist?". Polish Political Science Review. 8 (1): 87–99.
- Szczerbiak, Aleks (2017). "An anti-establishment backlash that shook up the party system? The October 2015 Polish parliamentary election" (PDF). European Politics and Society. 18 (4): 404–427.
- ^ ISSN 0208-7375.
Interestingly, though, more of them have supported the neoliberal centre-right Civil Platform, which in power with its coalition partner PSL (Polish Peasants' Party) since 2008 until 2015.
- ^ .
KO is made up of several parties, the largest of which is Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska—PO). PO was in power twice: from 2007 until 2011 and later, between 2011 and 2015, acting as a senior partner in a coalition with the Polish People's Party (PSL) and occupied the office of the Prime Minister for two full terms. This center-right party formed in 2001 combines economic neoliberalism with social conservatism.
- S2CID 16727049.
This argument also seems broadly confirmed taking into account more recent developments in Poland where both large newer centre-right parties, Civic Platform and Law and Justice, have developed more complex ideological narratives centring on the nature of post-communist transformation.
- ISSN 0208-7375.
Since 2005 the main political competitors have been two parties with Solidarity roots enjoying the highest electoral support: the right–wing Law and Justice (PiS) and the centre–right Civic Platform (PO).
- ^ PO has often been described as centre-right:
- "Tusk VS Kaczynski, explaining the conflict". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- Nathaniel Copsey (2013). "Poland:An Awkward Partner Redeemed". In Simon Bulmer; Christian Lequesne (eds.). The Member States of the European Union (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 9780199544837.
- Aleks Szczerbiak (2012). Poland Within the European Union: New awkward partner or new heart of Europe?. Routledge. p. 2. ISBN 9780415380737.
- Viktor, Szary (9 September 2014). "Poland's PM Tusk, heading for Brussels, submits resignation". Reuters. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- S2CID 157951515.
As discussed below, under Mr Tusk's leadership, Civic Platform turned from being a centre-right liberal-conservative party into an ideologically eclectic centrist grouping...
- ^ Some sources have described PO as having shifted from the centre-right to the centre.[18]
- ^ [13][14][15][16][17][19]
- ^ PO has often been described as centre-left:
- "The perfect enemy: From migrants to sexual minorities". CHR Michelsen Institute. 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
The tactic worked well for the PiS is in 2015 when anti-migrant rhetoric drummed up the party´s support before its election defeat of the governing centre-left Civic Platform.
- "Poland's ruling party picks LGBTQ rights as election battlefront". NBC News. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
The tactic worked for PiS previously, analysts said, noting how in 2015 it used anti-migrant rhetoric to drum up support before its election defeat of the governing center-left Civic Platform.
- Sharon L. Wolchik, Jane Leftwich Curry, ed. (2018). Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 234. ISBN 9781538100899.
A movement spearheaded by young people to get out the vote brought the more policy-focused center left Civic Platform to power.
- "The perfect enemy: From migrants to sexual minorities". CHR Michelsen Institute. 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
- S2CID 16727049.
Instead, three new centre-right and right-wing parliamentary parties emerged: the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO), the national-social conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, and the clerical-nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR).
- S2CID 143595310.
At root, Civic Platform is a right-wing liberal or liberal-conservative, rather than an archetypal Christian Democratic, party.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-4712-6.
When it was established in 2001, the Civic Platform (PO) referred to liberal and conservative values. In its ideological declaration, Christian values were recognised as one of the canons.
It was actually a conservative liberal party, with a moderate conservative agenda, and moderately anti-communist.
Despite this, the two centre-right parties, the neoliberal Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska - PO) and Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc - PIS), failed to offer any serious credible alternative.
- "Poland's government". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- Kamiński, Paweł; Rozbicka, Patrycja (2016). "Political Parties and Trade Unions in the Post-Communist Poland: Class Politics that Have Never a Chance to Happen" (PDF).
- Shields, Stuart (April 2012). "Opposing Neoliberalism? Poland's renewed populism and post-communist transition". Third World Quarterly. 33 (2): 359–381. S2CID 154652204.
In other words, on the policy and programme level the Civic Platform (PO) developed into a centre-right soft Thatcherite liberal, anti-communist, soft Christian nationalist and populist party.
"Donald Tusk is toying with anti-migrant language to match the tone of the ruling Law and Justice party.
On the other hand however, the victory of Civic Platform (CP) [Platforma Obywatelska] in the parliamentary elections in September 2007 had much to do with the promise of a new Ireland, our dream to come true. The fact that it was such a successful message and that it became a true banner of the victory allows us to see CP's success in terms of populism. (...) If we come back to Laclau's distinction one could even say that CP's populism and L&J's populism seek to attain what Laclau recognizes as unconceivable.
Sources
- Adam Zakowski, A leading force, Polityka, March 2009
External links
- Official website (in Polish)