political scene

List of political parties in Poland

Political parties in Poland lists current political parties in Poland, as well as former parties dating back as far as 1918. Since 1989, Poland has a multi-party system, with numerous competing political parties. Individual parties rarely have a chance of gaining power alone, and usually work with other parties to form coalition governments.

The parties

Major political parties

Parties that received more than 5% of votes at either 2004 European Parliament elections or the 2007 general elections to Sejm and whital splinter groups:

Party				Members in			Political Position
Abbr.	Name	Website	Leader	Sejm	Senate	EP ¹	(Ideology)
PO	Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska)		Donald Tusk	209	60	14 (15)	Centre-right (christian democratic, liberal conservative)
PiS	Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość)		Jarosław Kaczyński	166	37	7	Centre-right (conservative)
SLD	Democratic Left Alliance (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej) ² ⁵		Grzegorz Napieralski	40	0	4 (5)	Centre-left (anti-clerical, social democratic)
PSL	Polish People's Party (Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe)		Waldemar Pawlak	31	0	1 (4)	Centre (agrarian, centrism, christian democratic)
SDPL	Social Democracy of Poland (Socjaldemokracja Polska) ⁵		Marek Borowski	10	0	3	Centre-left (social democratic)
PD	Democratic Party - demokraci.pl (Partia Demokratyczna - demokraci.pl) ³ ⁵		Janusz Onyszkiewicz	3	0	4	Centre-left (social liberal)
LPR	League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin)		Mirosław Orzechowski	0	0	2 (10)	Right (eurosceptic, national conservative)
SRP	Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland (Samoobrona RP)		Andrzej Lepper	0	0	2 (6)	Centre-left (agrarian, populist, christian socialism)
Piast	"Piast" Party (Stronnictwo "Piast")		Zdzisław Podkański	0	0	4 (0)	Centre-right (agrarian, christian democratic, conservative)

Notes: ¹ 2004 European Parliament elections/ figure in parenthesis reflects initial number of seats won by party (if different to current number), prior to splits, defections etc.; ² SLD contested EP elections in alliance with Unia Pracy; ³EP elections contested by precursor party, Freedom Union; ⁴SLD, SDPL & PD contested the 2007 parliamentary elections jointly as LiD;

Minor political parties

Parties that received less than 5% of votes at both 2004 European Parliament elections and the 2007 general elections to Sejm:

Catholic-National Movement (Ruch Katolicko-Narodowy, RKN), (national conservative); leader: Antoni Macierewicz
Centre Party (Partia Centrum, PC) (christian democratic, centrism); leader: Janusz Steinhoff
Communist Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) (marxism-leninism); leader: Józef Łachut
Confederation of Independent Poland (Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej, KPN) (neo-Sanacja, nationalism); leader: Adam Słomka
Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne, SD) (social democratic, social liberal); leader: Krzysztof Góralczyk
Labour Union (Unia Pracy, UP) (social democratic); leader: Waldemar Witkowski
Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (Ruch Odbudowy Polski, ROP) (conservative, eurosceptic); leader: Jan Olszewski
National Party of Retirees and Pensioners (Krajowa Partia Emerytów i Rencistów, KPEiR) (social democratic, social liberal); leader: Tomasz Mamiński
National People's Movement (Ruch Ludowo-Narodowy), (christian democratic, eurosceptic, national conservative); leader: Bogusław Kowalski
National Revival of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski, NOP) (corporatism, nationalism); leader: Adam Gmurczyk
Polish Agreement (Porozumienie Polskie) (national conservative); leader: Jan Łopuszański
Polish National Community (Polska Wspólnota Narodowa, PWN) (nationalism, anti-clerical, antisemitism, racism); leader: Bolesław Tejkowski
Polish National Party (Polska Partia Narodowa, PPN) (nationalism, antisemitism, chauvinism); leader: Leszek Bubel
Polish Socialist Party (Poska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS); (democratic socialist, social democratic) leader: Bogusław Gorski
Polish Labour Party (Polska Partia Pracy, PPP); (democratic socialist, anti-globalism, syndicalism) leader: Mirosław Ziętek
New Left (Nowa Lewica, NL); (democratic socialist, trotskyism, anti-globalism) leader: Piotr Ikonowicz
Reason Party (RACJA Polskiej Lewicy, RACJA PL) (anti-clerical, social democratic); leader: Jan Barański
Republic Right Party (Prawica Rzeczypospolitej, PRz) (conservative); leader: Marek Jurek
Union of the Left (Unia Lewicy, UL) (social democratic); leader: Piotr Musiał
Union of Real Politics (Unia Polityki Realnej, UPR) (conservative liberal, liberal conservative, libertarian); leader: Bolesław Witczak
Women's Party (Partia Kobiet, PK) (feminist); leader: Manuela Gretkowska
Greens 2004 (Zieloni 2004) (green politics, feminist, social democratic); leader: Magdalena Mosiewicz, Dariusz Szwed

Overview

The transition from a mono-party Communist regime to democracy and pluralism resulted in new political parties mushrooming in the early 1990s. After the first free parliamentary elections in 1991 seats in the Sejm were divided among more than a dozen different parties (amongst them such curiosities as Polska Partia Przyjaciół Piwa (Polish Party of the Beer Admirers), lead by a popular Polish comedy actor, Janusz Rewiński). The existence of so many parties in the Sejm was seen by many as being counter-productive towards the effectiveness of the parliament and a hindrance towards producing stable governments. Consequently electoral reform was undertaken and an electoral threshold for the Lower House was instituted, prior to the 1993 elections. The set threshold, required a minimum vote of 5% for parties (with exemptions for ethnic minority parties) and 8% for electoral coalitions. The threshold was set at the national, rather than divisional levels, and had the effect of preventing a large number of minor parties from winning seats in later elections. The threshold also prevented independent candidates from gaining election to the Sejm. Since 1990, the left side of the political scene has generally been dominated by former Communists turned Social Democrats. The right has largely comprised (former) Solidarity activists and supporters, but experienced deep divisions from the beginning, and showed less cohesiveness than the left. The right were unable to create a single bloc which could act as a lasting counterweight to the left-wing monolith, but instead, kept merging, splitting and renaming. Even so, the parties of the right did manage to win government again from 1997-2001 (having initially governed from 1989-93).

Since the parliamentary elections of 2005, the right wing parties have dominated the political scene, and appear to be in their strongest position to date. Two important developments in the political landscape have taken place since 2005. Firstly, the SLD (ex-communist) party is no longer the major, or one of the two major parties. Secondly, the main political battleground is no longer between the ex-Solidarity right verses the ex-Communist left. This can be observed through the cooperation of parties such as the Democratic Party with the SLD (see Left and Democrats), the bitter rivalry between right wing parties Law and Justice and Civic Platform, as well as the impact of several controversial parties such as League of Polish Families and Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland on the political scene (both in Sejm from 2001-07). It is worth noting that the general public disapproval of politics and politicians as a whole, has resulted in almost all major parties excluding the very word "party" from their names, replacing it with words less associated with politics, such as "union", "platform", "league" or "alliance".

Alphabetical list of all political parties and organizations (after 1989)

This is a list of political organizations registered in Poland as political parties, societies, foundations, trade unions, electoral committees, electoral alliances and informal groups:

Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność (AWS) - Solidarity Electoral Action
Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność Prawicy (AWS-P) - Solidarity Electoral Action of the Right
Chrześcijańska Demokracja (ChD) - Christian Democracy
Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczne Stronnictwo Pracy (ChDSP) - Christian-Democratic Labour Party
Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczne Stronnictwo 'Zjednoczenie' (ChDS'Z') - Christian-Democratic Party 'Unity'
Chrześcijańska Partia Pracy (ChD) - Christian Labour Party
Chrześcijański Ruch Obywatelski (ChRO) - Christian Citizens' Movement
Chrześcijańskie Stowarzyszenie Społeczne (ChSS) - Christian Social Association
Forum Prawicy Demokratycznej (FDP) - Democratic Right Forum
Frakcja Prawicy Demokratycznej (FDP) - Democratic Right Faction
Klub Inteligencji Katolickiej (KIK) - Catholic Intellectuals Club
Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny (KLD) - Liberal-Democratic Congress
Komitet Obywatelski 'Solidarność' (KO 'S') Citizens' Committee 'Solidarity'
Komunistyczna Partia Polski (KPP) - Communist Party of Poland
Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej (KPN) - Confederation of Independent Poland
Krajowy Komitet Obywatelski (KKO) - National Citizens Committee
Lewica i Demokraci (LiD) - Left and Democrats
Liga Polskich Rodzin (LPR) - League of Polish Families, see also Liga i Samoobrona (LiS)
Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (NOP) - National Revival of Poland
(Niezależna) Polska Partia Socjalistyczna ((N)PPS) - (Independent) Polish Socialist Party
Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów (NZS) - Independent Students' Association
Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy 'Solidarność' (NSZZ"S") - Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity"
Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność'80 (NSZZ"S'80") - Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity '80"
Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Rolników Indywidualnych 'Solidarność' (NSZZ"S") - Independent Self-Governing Trade Union of Independent Farmers "Solidarity"
Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny (OKP) - Citizen's Parliamentarian Caucus
Odrodzona Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (OPPS) - Revived Polish Socialist Party
Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych (OPZZ) - All-Polish Agreement of the Trade Unions
Organizacja Monarchistów PolskichOrganization of Polish Monarchists
Partia Centrum (Centrum) - Centrum Party
Partia Chrześcijańskich Demokratów (PChD) - Christian Democrats Party
Partia Demokratyczna - demokraci.pl (PD) Democratic Party - democrats.pl
Polska Partia Pracy (PPP) - Polish Labour Party
Polska Partia Przyjaciół Piwa (PPPP) - Polish Beer-Lovers' Party
Polska Partia Socjaldemokratyczna (PPS) - Polish Social-Democratic Party
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (PPS) - Polish Socialist Party
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna - Rewolucja Demokratyczna (PPS-RD) - Polish Socialist Party - Democratic Revolution
Polska Unia Socialdemokratyczna (PUS) - Polish Social-Democratic Union
Polski Związek Katolicko-Społeczny (PZKS) - Polish Catholic-Social Union
Polskie Forum Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczne (PFChD) - Polish Christian-Democratic Forum
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe 'Mikołajczykowskie' (PSL'M') - Polish Peasant's Party 'Mikolajczyk'
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe 'Odrodzenie' (PSL'O') - Polish Peasant's Party 'Revival'
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe 'Solidarność' (PSL) - Polish Peasant's Party 'Solidarity'
Platforma Obywatelska (PO) - Civic Platform
Platforma Janusza Korwin-Mikke (PJKM) - Platform of Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Porozumienie Centrum (PC) - Centre Agreement
Porozumienie Obywatelskie Centrum (POC) - Citizen's Centre Agreement
Porozumienie Ludowe (PL) - Peasants Agreement
Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) - Law and Justice
RACJA Polskiej Lewicy (RACJA PL) - Reason Party
Ruch Demokratyczno-Społeczny (RDS) - Democratic-Social Movement
Ruch Ludzi Pracy (RPL) - Labour People Movement
Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna (ROAD) - Citizens' Movement Democratic Action
Samoobrona - Self Defence, see also Liga i Samoobrona (LiS)
Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (SLD) - Democratic Left Alliance
Socjaldemokracja Polska (SDPL) - Polish Social Democracy
Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (SdRP) - Social Democracy of Republic of Poland
Solidarność Pracy (SP) - Labour Solidarity
Stowarzyszenie PAX (PAX) - PAX Society
Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (SD) - Democratic Party
Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe (SKL) - Conservative People's Party
Stronnictwo Narodowe (SN) - National Party
Stronnictwo Narodowo-Demokratyczne (SND) - National-Democratic Party
Stronnictwo Wierności Rzeczypospolitej (SWRP) - Party of Republican Loyalty
Unia Chrześcijańsko-Społeczna (UChS) - Christian-Social Union
Unia Demokratyczna (UD) - Democratic Union
Unia Lewicy (UL) - Left Union
Unia Socjaldemokratyczna RP (USdRP) - Social-Democratic Union of Republic of Poland
Unia Polityki Realnej (UPR) - Real Politics Union
Unia Pracy (UP) - Labour Union
Unia Wolności (UW) - Freedom Union
Wyborcza Akcja Katolicka (WAK) - Catholic Election Action
Zieloni 2004 - Greens 2004
Zjednoczenie Chrześcijańsko-Narodowe (ZChN) - Christian-National Union
Związek Komunistów Polskich 'Proletariat' (ZKP'P') - Polish Communists Union 'Proletariat'

Underground political organization in Poland 1945-1989

Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej (KPN) - Confederation for Independent Poland
Komitet Obrony Robotników (KOR) - Workers Defence Committee
Ruch Obrony Praw Człowieka i Obywatela (ROPCiO) - Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights
Ruch Polityki Realnej (RPR) - Real Politics Movement
Wolność i Niezawisłość (WiN) - Freedom and Independence
Wolność i Pokój (WiP) - Freedom and Peace (Ruch Wolność i Pokój)

Official political parties and organizations in the People's Republic of Poland 1948-1989

parties

Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (PZPR) - Polish United Workers' Party (marxist-leninist)
Stronnictwo Demokratyczne (SD) - Democratic Party (centrist, communist controlled)
Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe (ZSL) - United Peasants' Party (agrarian, communist controlled)

organizations

Front Jedności Narodu (FJN) - precursor of PRON
Patriotyczny Ruch Odrodzenia Narodowego (PRON) - National Renaissance Patriotic Movement (consisted of PZPR, SD and ZSL members)
Stowarzyszenie PAX - "PAX" Association (catholic and nationalist, communist controlled)
Związek Młodzieży Socjalistycznej (ZMS) - Socialist Youth Union (youth faction of PZPR) (Związek Młodzieży Socjalistycznej)
Związek Socjalistycznej Młodzieży Polskiej (ZSMP) - Polish Socialist Youth Union (youth faction of PZPR)
Związek Młodzieży Wiejskiej (ZMW) - Rural Youth Union (youth faction of ZSL) (Związek Młodzieży Wiejskiej)

Official political parties in Poland 1945-1948

Polska Partia Robotnicza (PPR) - Polish Worker's Party (communist)
Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (PPS) - Polish Socialist Party
Stronnictwo Ludowe (SL) - Peasants/People's Party (agrarian, pro-communist)
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe - Polish People's Party (agrarian, anti-communist)
Stronnictwo Demokratyczne - Democratic Party (centrist)

Political parties in the Second Polish Republic 1918 - 1939

Agudath Israel
Blok Mniejszosci Narodowych - Bloc of National Minorities
Bund (General Jewish Labor Union)
Centrolew – "Center-left" coalition of parties.
Chjeno-Piast
Chrześcijańska Demokracja (ChD)
Folkspartei (Jewish People's Party, 'Folkists')
Sanacja - Sanation (meant to "restore health" to the body politic: authoritarian, centrist)

Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem BBWR - Non-Party Bloc of Cooperation with the Government (organization of Sanacja)
Obóz Zjednoczenia Narodowego - OZN ("Ozon", continuation of BBWR, nationalist)